Why Can't We Be Friends?
by lielabell
Summary: HSM AU Gabby is best friends with Ryan, Troy is singing with Sharpay and Chad is feeling left out in the cold. When he decides that Ryan should commiserate their side-kick no more status together, all hell breaks loose. Written for the HSM Big Bang.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Dude." Chad nudged Troy's leg with his foot. No response. "Dude," he repeated as he leaned over and waved his hand in front of Troy's face.

Troy slapped at Chad's hand. "What?"

"You're supposed to be telling us what the game plan is for tonight," Chad reminded him with a roll of the eyes.

"Oh." Troy looked down at his plate of limp fries and then lifted a shoulder. "I, um, haven't figured that out yet." He glanced back across the room and shot to his feet. "I'd better go and," Troy snatched up his book and stuffed them into his bag, "yeah. Later."

"Later," Chad muttered a half beat after Troy had left. He made a face at Troy's back and then glared at Jason, who had tried to swipe one of his chicken strips. "Back off," he snapped, his hand going over his tray protectively.

Jason said something that sounded like an apology and Chad grunted out an acceptance, his eyes glued to the table that had held Troy's attention. Nothing interesting, just Ryan and that new girl sitting with their heads together over homework. Chad blinked realizing what he had missed. Sharpay was gone. Of course. He picked up a strip and munched on the end, trying to figure out when it was that Troy had started finding Sharpay worth watching. He'd been staring at her table pretty consistently since they got back from winter break. And had been going missing at random times without any plausible excuse. Chad snorted as he recalled how Troy had claimed that he was behind on homework. Like that even mattered.

Chad swallowed, and then reached for his coke. This sucked. Hardcore. Troy was his best bud, always had been and always would be. But ever since winter break things had been, well, off. And it clearly had something to do with creepy Sharpay Evans.

It was one thing to think that Sharpay was hot, because, well, she was, and quite another to actually do something about it. Even if she wasn't scary as hell, there was the fact that Zeke was all in love with her or whatever. Plus, she was high maintenance and Troy didn't have time to be getting all mixed up with some girl's bullshit drama. Not with the championship so close.

He glanced around the table and wished that he had someone to share his completely justified disgust with. Zeke was more likely to cry then commiserate, Jason didn't have a functioning brain, and the rest of the team, while being cool and all, weren't exactly his friends.

_To hell with this,_ Chad thought as he snatched up his tray. He was sick of eating alone. And if Troy could go rush off with one of the wonder twins, he'd be damned if he didn't do the same. At least then he would have someone to complain to who might actually understand.

For all Ryan had managed to find himself a shadow, it still had to suck having his sister be all gooey-eyed over Troy and ditching him all the time. Besides, Chad had always thought Ryan was sort of cool in an over the top way. Chad nodded to himself and then marched over to where Ryan was sitting and thumped his tray down. Ryan and his sidekick looked up at him with surprised expressions and Chad decided to go for broke.

"Why can't we be friends?" he demanded as he plunked down.

Ryan blinked. "Excuse me?"

The girl gave Ryan an amused look and then thrust out her hand. "Hi, I'm Gabby," she chirped.

Chad took it gingerly. He'd heard some weird things about her, something about her being freaky smart and into biology. But she had a nice smile and was sort of cute up close. If you didn't mind the big-eyed girl next door type, that is. She sort of was staring at him though, which was kind of creepy. Gabby glanced down at their hands and Chad instantly dropped hers. "I'm Chad," he said lamely.

Gabby giggled and shot another look at Ryan. "I know who you are."

"Oh?" God, he hoped she didn't have a crush on him. That would totally suck and make the rest of lunch awkward as hell.

"Of course," Gabby answered, gathering up the papers she and Ryan had pouring over. "You're on the basketball team," she pumped a fist in the air. "Go Wildcats."

Chad gave her a blank look. "Yeah, right. I'm on the team." He turned to Ryan. "So, what about it?"

"What about what?" Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Want to be friends?"

Ryan made a point of glancing around the room. "Are we being filmed or something?"

"What?"

"I must be being Punk'd."

"What?" Chad did a quick sweep of the room. "Why could anyone want to punk you?"

Ryan leaned in close to him. "Come on, just tell me. I promise to act surprised." When Chad continued to look at him like he'd lost his mind, Ryan sighed. "Fine, be like that."

"Dude, has anyone told you you're weird?"

"Daily," Ryan answered nonchalantly. "Now tell me why you are really here. Who did you bet and how much was it?"

Gabby rolled her eyes. "Maybe he just wants to be your friend."

"And maybe Sharpay will have a change of heart, quit show business and donate all her shoes to Goodwill."

Chad let out a chuckle as Gabby cracked up, noting that Ryan looked pleased with himself. "Anyway," he said over top of Gabby's laughter, "You and me would be great friends."

Ryan looked skeptical. "What makes you think that?"

"Who knows where thoughts come from," Chad answered, taking a drink from his coke. He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth and lifted an eyebrow. "They just appear."

"Who do you think you are? Lucas?" Ryan asked with a snort.

Gabby's brow furrowed. "Who's Lucas?"

Ryan turned to her with a pained expression on his face. "Oh no, you did not just say that." He crossed his arms and mock glared at her. "No more math for you until you've seen Empire Records."

"No way. You are not getting out of studying that easy." Gabby mirrored his stance down to the fake glare.

"Wow. You're even more disturbed than I thought you were," Chad joked, breaking the stand off. He pinched a fry from Gabby's plate and pointed it in her direction. "Watch the movie." Ryan gave him a blinding smile that died as soon as Chad angled the fry in his direction. "And don't change the subject. You. Me. Friends. Understand?" he stuck the fry in his mouth and reached for another.

"Just help yourself," Gabby snipped. Chad hesitated, hand halfway to her plate, he dropped it and gave her an apologetic grin. "Joking," she said with a smile, pushing it towards him. Chad took a handful and shoved them in his mouth. "So why do you want to be friends with Ryan again?" she asked when he finished chewing.

Chad finished off his coke and lifted a shoulder. "Thought he'd understand where I'm coming from."

"Cryptic much?" Ryan tapped his finger on the table top with a sigh.

"Well, you know, Troy and Sharpay."

Ryan's jaw dropped. "Wait, who and who?"

Chad's brow furrowed. "Troy, my best friend, captain of the basketball team, about this tall," he lifted his hand to about Troy's height, "floppy hair and teeth that cost his parents way too much to straighten. And Sharpay, the drama queen you call sister."

Ryan waved a hand, "Yes, I know who they are. But why are you mentioning them in the same sentence."

"Duh. They're an item."

Ryan let out a strangled noise and Gabby choked on her food. "What!" Ryan glanced wildly around the room. "Since when?"

"Winter break, as far as I can tell," Chad answered with a shrug. "You mean she didn't tell you?" Ryan shook his head. "Well, at least you noticed that she keeps disappearing with Troy."

"No." Ryan looked fit to be tied.

Chad laughed. "Dude, this is the third time this week."

"I don't keep tabs on Shar," Ryan said tightly. "I don't have to, she tells me everything anyway." He scowled. "Or, at least I thought she did."

"No offense or anything, but she is your sister. Maybe she didn't want you freaking out," Chad reasoned, pleased that he wasn't the only one being kept out of the loop. He turned towards Gabby and gave her his best charming smile. "You want to be my friend, don't you?"

Gabby tapped her lips thoughtfully. "You're more fun than Sharpay." Her eyes cut to Ryan and a smile bloomed on her face when he glowered.

Ryan made an affronted noise. "Shar is way more fun than Chad." Gabby gave him a smug look and he sighed. "Oh alright, she's not exactly the cute and cuddly type, but you have to admit that you have a good time when she's around."

"I bet we would have more fun with Chad around." Gabby held up her fingers and started counting them off, "He wouldn't freak out about the cold air being bad for his voice, or complain about having to work out for hours to make up from having an éclair, or whine about the paint on his toes getting chipped, or make us wash Boi or--"

"Oh alright," Ryan cut in over her. "You've made your point." He turned towards Chad. "Friends."

Chad stuck his hand out. "Friends." Ryan shook it just at the lunch bell rang. Chad jumped up, slung his bag over his shoulder and walked away with a smile the size of Texas splashed across his face.

* * *

"What was that about?" Gabby asked as soon as they were alone.

Ryan lifted his hands. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Ryan, you've got the biggest crush in the world on him," Gabby gave him one of her looks and he gave her one right back. "You would think that you would, you know, be nice to him when he sits down next to you and practically begs you to be his friend."

Ryan gave her a tight lipped smile. "He wasn't begging to be my friend; he was trying to scout out what I know about Shar and Troy. Which is nothing, by the way." Ryan glanced around the rapidly emptying cafeteria, vainly hoping that his sister would show up. Of course, she didn't. He let out a little sigh and hefted up his bag. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Gabby shook her head at him, but picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. "Well, I think that he likes you. There are about a thousand other people at this school, any number of which would fall all over themselves if he sat down at their table, but he chose to come and sit with you."

"Yes, but how many of those other people are actually friends with Sharpay, let alone related to her?" Ryan pushed the door to the cafeteria open and held it while Gabby walked past. "A big, fat zero. That's how many."

"That's pretty sad," Gabby said with a frown.

"What is?"

She gave him a flabbergasted look. "Your sister has no other friends in the school other than me and you. And I don't even think she counts me as her friend."

Ryan lifted a shoulder. "Sharpay doesn't have friends, she has minions. No one her meets her exacting standards."

"It's still sad." Gabby let out a little sigh. "I would offer to try and help her find some, but I think she wouldn't be the least bit interested."

"That's for sure," Ryan laughed as he dodged a group of freshmen. "She'd bite your face off and then point out that she gets by just fine with me and The Sharpettes."

Gabby looked confused. "The Sharpettes?"

Ryan nodded. "That's what she calls her three bffs slash backup singers. I don't think you've had the dubious pleasure of meeting them yet."

"She has backup singers?" Gabby narrowed her eyes at him. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

"No way. Sharpay's had the same three backup singers since we were eight. They always perform with us at the talent show my parents throw every year at their club."

"That's weird." Gabby laughed. "She had better turn out to be a superstar or something, or they are going to feel like complete fools when they grow up."

Ryan scratched his cheek. "If Sharpay doesn't turn out to be a superstar we are all going to have a lot more to be worried about than feeling like fools," he said wryly. He titled his head towards the approaching hallway. "This is my exit. I'll see you in Bio, okay?"

Gabby waved at him. "See you then," she called as she headed off in the opposite direction.

_This is going to be interesting,_ he thought as he veered down the hall and then hurried down the steps, heading for the theater. Typically he yawned his way through Intro to Theater, where he and his sister were technically TA's. In reality he was there to smile at Ms. Darbus when the pressure of dealing with the caliber of students in the class got to be too much for her and to listen to Sharpay blather on about her social life. Not exactly the most thrilling way to spend his afternoon, but certainly better than sitting through dance class with the talentless hack they hired on a on a cut-rate salary back in two thousand two, which effectively ended the dance program at East High.

But today, well today was going to be different. Today he was going to figure out exactly how Troy Bolton fit into Sharpay's life and why it was that he didn't already know about it.

Ryan smiled as he pushed open the door and tossed his bag onto the seat next to his sister. It landed with a thump, starting her, and she frowned up at him. "There you are," he said in an overly bright voice. "I wondered where you got off to after you up and vanished at lunch."

The frown deepened into a scowl. "Well what did you expect to happen?" she snapped. "You and little miss goody two shoes started talking about math, of all things. And you know perfectly well I can't eat when something as unpleasant as that is happening."

"So it's just a crazy random happenstance that you and Troy Bolton disappeared at the same time. Again. For the third time this week." Anyone else would have missed it, but because he was her brother, Ryan noticed the slight narrowing of Sharpay's eyes. She widened them innocently less than a second later, but the jig was up. "Don't even bother to deny it," he said as he settled himself into the plush red seat.

"Oh, alright," Sharpay answered with a pout. "I was going to tell you anyway." She unsnapped her clutch and fished through it, pulling out a nail file. "I would have told you sooner if you were so self-involved. Seriously, it's been all you all the time ever since that mousy little Gabriella decided to attach herself to you like some sort of overgrown, math loving barnacle."

Ryan took a calming breath. "Sharpay, what, exactly, is going on with you and Troy Bolton."

She let out a huff. "Don't blame me if your little feelings get all hurt. I was going to be a good sister and wait for the right moment. Maybe even take you out to dinner, break it to you over something decedent and dripping with chocolate--"

"Sharpay," Ryan bit out.

"I'm auditioning with him for Twinkle Town."

Ryan shot out of his seat. "What!"

Sharpay tugged at his shirt. "Sit down," she hissed at the same time that Ms. Darbus cleared her throat.

Ryan slunk back into the seat, feeling angry and confused. "But we are auditioning for Twinkle Town. We had our pianist do an arrangement and everything."

"Things change." Sharpay went back to filing her nails.

"Things change?" Ryan looked at her in shock. "You are auditioning for a musical without me for the first time in the history of ever and all you have to say for yourself is 'Things change?'"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Oh don't be so melodramatic. I auditioned for Annie without you."

"There are no parts for boys in Annie!"

"So? I still auditioned without you."

Ryan made a face. "You didn't get the part."

"Who said anything about getting the part?" Sharpay wrinkled her nose. "Besides, I would have looked terrible with all that frizzy red hair."

"Can we get back to the part where you were stabbing me in the back?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes again. "I'm not stabbing you in the back, Ry. I'm making a strategic career move."

"Strategic my ass. You know as well as I do that Troy can't dance, can't act and can't sing."

"He just needs a little bit of fine tuning," Sharpay said with a sniff.

Ryan snorted. "You just want to shag him senseless."

"Shag him senseless? What are you, British?" Sharpay sneered.

"Don't argue semantics with me. You've been after him since we were freshmen. And don't think I don't know why you wanted to go skiing so bad over winter break. Your sudden interest in Tahoe developed the moment you heard that Troy was going there with his family for the holidays."

"You can't complain," Sharpay shot back, "After all, you meet your new best friend there. Trust you to find the only uninteresting person in the room at a New Year party."

"Trust you to find Troy Bolton and stick to him like glue until midnight. Not that it did you any good."

Sharpay pointed her nail file at him menacingly. "Troy is a gentleman. Of course he would start our relationship with a kiss on the cheek."

Ryan laughed. "What relationship?" he crossed his arms and smirked at her. "If there was a relationship you wouldn't be jeopardizing your chance at lead role in Twinkle Town."

"I'm not jeopardizing anything," Sharpay retorted. "Who's going to audition against me for Minnie? You?"

Ryan glared at her, knowing perfectly well that she was right. "Fine, well, maybe you aren't. But you also aren't in a relationship with Troy."

Sharpay gave him her sweetest smile. "Give me time, brother dear. Give me time."

* * *

Chapter Notes: There are quotes from Empire Records and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog in this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It took almost a week before Troy noticed that Chad was spending his lunches with Ryan, and even then it was only because Zeke pointed it out. He didn't react at all the way Chad had pictured it, just shrugged and smiled and said that everyone was allowed to eat with whoever they wanted whenever they wanted. Chad was still his best friend, and that wouldn't change no matter who he ate lunch with.

Chad personally felt let down by the lack of drama. It wasn't so much that he wanted Troy to be jealous, just that it would have been cool if he had acknowledged that things had changed between them. But then, that was Troy. Always go with the flow, even when the flow was through white water rapids.

Still what was lacking with Troy drama wise was more than made up for by Sharpay.

She came stalking toward him when he was hanging out in the halls with Ryan and Gabby the following Friday after school, her nostrils flaring and her hair teased into something even Dolly Parton would shudder at.

"You," she snarled, her pale pink fingernail jabbing squarely into Chad's chest, "are playing the wrong sort of game."

Chad stared at her blankly. "The only game I play is basketball," was all he could come up with in reply. Which wasn't true, he realized a second later. He played baseball too. He opened his to correct himself, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"Don't be coy with me." She put her hands on her hips and gave him a look that could melt the polar ice caps. "I'm onto you. If you make so much as one false move, I'll make you wish you had never been born."

"Uh," Chad grimaced. "I kind of already do."

She nodded sharply. "Good." She glanced at her brother and inclined her head. "Ryan."

Ryan gave her a hard look. "Sharpay, you stay out of my personal life and I'll stay out of yours."

"A good sister looks out for her baby brother," she shot back.

"Aren't you guys' twins?" Chad asked before his brain could tell him not to.

Sharpay returned her focus to him with a nasty gleam in her eye. "I'm older."

"Right," he said slowly, wishing there was something he could hide behind.

"You're about to be deader," Ryan blithely cut in, "if you don't piss off and mind your own business."

"I'm only doing my duty as I see it," she snapped. "I've warned you, Danforth. And don't think I won't come down on you like the hand of god if you step one toe out of line."

"Okay," he held up his hands to show that he wasn't going to do anything tricky. "I won't."

"Good," she said again, then she turned on her heel and left.

The three of them watched her till she was out of sight, and then Chad turned to Ryan for an explanation.

"Just ignore her," Ryan answered Chad's unspoken question with a roll of his eyes. He shut his locker and leaned back against it. "She's hated you since the fifth grade."

Chad gaped at him with a stunned look on his face. "The fifth grade?"

Ryan nodded. "Ever since you turned her down when she asked to you the Sadie Hawkins Dance."

Chad blinked. "She asked me to the Sadie Hawkins Dance? I don't remember that."

"Don't tell her that," Ryan warned. "It'll only make her hate you more. After all, it was a very pivotal point in her life. It was the first time someone told her no and Daddy couldn't fix it."

"No wonder she hates you," Gabby commented with a fake shiver. She slipped her arm through Ryan's. "Well, as interesting as that was, we've got to go. I've got a lot to do before tonight. And you don't want me to have to cancel, right?"

"Cancel what?" Chad asked.

Ryan glanced at Gabby, who lifted her shoulder. "Well, actually, Gabby and I are thinking about auditioning for the spring musical," he started, but was cut off when Gabby jabbed him in the ribs and glowered at him. He rubbed his side as Chad laughed and then started again. "Alright, I've been begging Gabby to audition with me for the spring musical. And she, heartless person that she is, has been steadfastly refusing."

Chad gave her a wide grin. "Stay strong, my friend. Stay strong."

It was Ryan's turn to glower, which he did to almost no effect. "Anyway," he said over Gabby's giggles, "Tonight she promised to do karaoke with me in an effort to," he glanced at Gabby and did air quotes, "prove to me how pointless the whole thing is. I don't know what she's on, because I've heard her sing before and she's good."

"I am not," Gabby cut in. She gave Chad a soulful look. "I'm a dreadful singer and I get stage fright."

"How would you know if you got stage fright unless you had been on stage before?" Ryan shot back, sliding comfortably back into what was clearly an ongoing fight.

"One time. Just one time," Gabby held up one finger for emphasis. And it ended in disaster."

"Weren't you twelve at the time?" Ryan pressed. "And don't you think that you've matured since then?"

Of course I've matured," Gabby answered with an exasperated sigh. "But you don't just 'mature' out of stage fright."

"Besides, you won't be alone. I'll be there with you." Ryan gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.

She deftly removed it and took a step back. "Yes, and your sister will be in the audience, doing her best to prove that looks can indeed kill."

"So," Chad said, cutting into their banter, "You're going to do karaoke tonight? Where at?"

"My place," Gabby replied eagerly. She glanced at Ryan and then beamed at Chad. "You should totally come." Gabby's eyes were all but twinkling with excitement. "It's going to be so much fun."

Chad held up his hands defensively. "Me plus karaoke has never once equaled fun."

Gabby crossed her arms and gave him a narrow-eyed stare. "Well now it makes sense. It's your lack of math skills at work again. Clearly you've just been adding angst when you should have been subtracting inhibitions and multiplying fun."

Ryan groaned. "That's bad, even for you."

"They didn't call me 'Freaky Math Girl' for nothing, you know," Gabby told him with a grin. She turned back to Chad. "Besides, if you don't come you won't get to try my mother's famous brownies."

Ryan clutched at his stomach. "Oh. My. God. Your mom's brownies are heaven."

"I know. And I'm going to get some vanilla ice cream to go with. It's going to be so good." Gabby pretended to wipe away drool. "So yeah, if you don't come you'll be missing out big time."

"Well, when you put it that way," Chad said, mentally rearranging his weekend to accommodate his new plans.

Gabby bounced up and down and squealed. "It's going to be so much fun! And Tay will be there too, so we'll get to do harmonies and everything."

"Tay?" Chad asked, trying not to focus on the thought of harmonies.

"Taylor. Taylor McKessie. Do you know her?"

Chad shook his head then frowned. "Wait. Isn't she the one of the smart girls? The one who always wears headbands and matchy-matchy outfits?"

Gabby pulled a face. "I don't know about the matchy-matchy thing, but Tay's a smart girl for sure. She's on decathlon team with me and is really nice."

"Really nice, huh? She calls me a Neanderthal under her breath whenever I walk by."

"You kind of are one, though," Ryan teased. "So you can't hold that against her."

"I can't believe I am giving up my Friday night hoops to hang out with you and the little Miss Smarty Pants here," Chad groaned.

"Do you want to go home first or just hitch a ride with me?" Ryan asked as he shut his locker and swung his bag onto his shoulder.

Chad thought for a moment and then flipped open his phone and punched in the number for home. He jammed it under his ear and spun his basketball on his fingers while he waited for someone to pick up. The call went to voicemail and he cleared his throat before saying, "Hey family, it's me. I'm going to hang out with some friends after school Just give me a ring if you need me. Peace." He pulled the phone free, snapped it shut and slid it in his back pocket.

"Catching a ride with me, then," Ryan said with a smile. "That alright with you, Gabby?"

Gabby caught her lip between her teeth. "Actually, I think I have to take care of something before you come over. How about we meet at my place at five?"

Ryan's brow furrowed. "You mind hanging out at my place before we meet up with Gabby?"

Chad shook his head, his heart speeding up a bit. "Naw. It will be cool. And I'll finally get to see your place."

"Finally?" Ryan rubbed his jaw. "I didn't know you ever wanted to."

"Dude, I heard from Jason who heard from Kelsi that your place is amazing."

"Kelsi's been to my house?"

Chad nodded. "Yeah. Last year. She and the Ice, er, your sister, teamed up for some project in English or something. I don't really remember. Anyway, she told Jason and he told everyone with ears and yeah. Do you really have an indoor swimming pool?"

Ryan laughed. "No, but we do have an indoor hot tub that I use to do laps in when I was little."

"Really? Sweet!" Chad pumped his fist in the air. "You sure you don't want us to meet at six?" he asked Gabby with a mischievous grin.

Gabby looked thoughtful and then said, "You know, I could just bring my stuff over to your place, Ryan. Then we could use your awesome sound system and my mom wouldn't walk in with that pained expression and ask us to turn the sound down in the middle of the song, like she did last time."

"You think Taylor will be cool with that?" Ryan hitched his bag higher on his shoulder, digging inside of it for something.

"I don't see why not," Gabby answered. "I'll text her to let her know about the change and if she complains, I'll just remind her about the brownies. That always does the trick."

"So I'm not the only one you've bribed with baked goods?" Chad frowned. "And here I thought I was special."

Gabby and Ryan exchanged a look and then burst out laughing.

"What?" Chad demanded.

"Oh, believe me," Gabby said around giggles, "you're special."

Ryan held up his keys and shook them. "Let's get this show on the road, kiddies. Daylight's burning and I've got a date with a massive hot tub."

Chad slung his backpack over his shoulder and picked up his basketball. "I'm good."

"Don't bother waiting for me," Gabby said with a wave of her hand. "I've got stuff I need to do. But I'll see you at five-ish, okay?"

"Okay," Ryan confirmed. He turned towards Chad, "If you would just follow me, sir."

* * *

Ryan paced back and forth in the hall, his hands clasped behind his back. He glanced at the closed door and then grinned. Chad Danforth, who Ryan had been crushing on since fifth grade, was naked in his room right now. Of course, Ryan wasn't actually in there with him, but still. Chad was naked in his room.

He heard a muffled thump and then the sound of cursing and hand his hand on the door knob before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to do that. He yanked his hand back like it was burned and called out, "You okay in there?"

There was another thump, the sound of rustling and then the door swung open and Chad's tousled head poked out. "Yeah. I'm fine. But, uh, I think your Gene Kelly cardboard cut out will never be the same again."

"What!" Ryan yanked the door open and dashed into the room, wild eyed.

Chad burst out laughing. "Dude, you should see your face."

Ryan spun around, hands on his hips. "That's so not funny."

"It was from this side," Chad said with a sly smile.

"And since when do you know who Gene Kelly is?" Ryan asked, his eyes narrowing. "You don't seem the sort to be a closet musical lover."

Chad pulled a face. "That's 'cause I'm not. My mom's the musical nut in the family, thank you very much. But even if that weren't the case, I'd have to be pretty dense not to know who Gene Kelly is."

"You'd be surprised." Ryan shook his head, looking at Chad fully for the first time since he opened the door. His throat went dry as he took in the fact that the trunks Chad had borrowed were much tighter on him than they were on Ryan. He stared for a moment longer than he should have and then dragged his eyes away and licked his lips nervously. "Anyway, I can see that you're all suited up. Ready for a dip?"

"Hell yeah!"

Ryan laughed at the exuberant look on Chad's face. "Excited much?"

Chad nodded unabashedly. "You would be too, if you'd never been in a pool sized hot tub."

"Just remember that I was about half my current size the last time I did laps in it," Ryan warned.

"Okay, got that," Chad made a shooing motion. "So let's get to it."

Ryan jerked his head in the right direction. "It's this way." He started out at a brisk trot, keeping his eyes trained in front of him.

"What's the rush?" Chad asked, bumping his shoulder against Ryan's.

"Uh," Ryan frantically cast about for a logical reason to be all but running. "I don't think Gabby and Taylor are bringing their suits, and even if they are it would be rude to be in the hot tub when they get here."

Chad chuckled. "But aren't they coming at five?"

"Yes," Ryan said as he started down the stairs.

"And isn't it three thirty now?" Ryan nodded. "So then don't you think that maybe we will have had our fill by the time five rolls around?" Chad finished.

Ryan forced himself to slow his steps. "I guess you have a point," he muttered as they rounded the corner and turned into the indoor gym.

"Sweet lord have mercy!" Chad's eyes were as round as saucers. "This is even better than the 24 Hour Fitness."

"My family takes their health very seriously," Ryan said with a shrug.

"No shit." Chad tossed his arm around Ryan's shoulders. "You and me are going to be the best of friends, I can see it now."

Ryan made a sound that could have been amused but most likely resembled dying cow. He didn't care, he was just happy he could respond at all while his brain was being temporally short circuited by the fact that Chad's bare arm was in full contact with his shirtless shoulders.

Chad laughed and slipped his arm free. "Don't sound so enthusiastic, man."

Ryan shook his head. "Oh, so I'm supposed to be thrilled that you are going to be using me for my gym?"

"Something like that," Chad answered as he walked around, awe still clearly stamped on his face. "Dude, this is the most awesome house I've ever been in."

"And all you've seen so far is my room and the gym," Ryan quipped. "Just wait till you see the home theater."

"I've never wished my family was loaded before, but now I think I just might add it to my nightly prayers," Chad shot back, a crooked smile in place. "But that's enough of me getting a hard on over free weights. Let's get to the good stuff and show me the hot tub you've been teasing me with all afternoon."

Ryan shifted, slightly uncomfortable with Chad's word choice. It seemed like a the other boy was flirting with him, which was weird since Ryan himself had personally seen Chad macking on at least four different girls whose only endearing quality seemed to be the way they fit into their cheerleader skirts.

Decided he was reading way too much into a little harmless banter, Ryan motioned to the far end of the room and said, "It's just through there." He started across the room, stopping briefly at a long low cabinet to pull out two white, fluffy towels. Chad sped past him, bursting through the tempered glass doors and let out a loud whoop which was quickly followed by a loud splash.

Ryan pushed open the doors and laughed at the blissful expression on Chad's face. "Like it then?"

Chad let out a contented sigh. "This is even better than I imagined it would be."

Ryan took in the sight of Chad sprawled out in the tub, water lapping at his bare chest, and agreed. The reality was ten thousand times better than anything he had pictured. He walked over to the build in bench and set the towels down on it. Then he pulled off his hat and put to the side of the towels. Ryan glanced over his shoulder at Chad, saw that the other boy's eyes were closed, and took the opportunity to adjust himself so that his interest wouldn't be so obvious.

He walked to the steps and then waded into the hot water, moving till he was opposite Chad. Ryan lowered himself onto the bench and then leaned back against the wall, his arms resting on the lip of the tub. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"More than should be legal."

Ryan chuckled. "This is one of my favorite rooms in the house. I can't count how many times I've soaked the stress right out of my day."

Chad cracked an eye open and squinted at Ryan. "I always said I would rather cut my own hand off than be around Sharpay, but I think that I might change my mind about that if being around her meant spending every night in here."

"Watch it," Ryan warned. "That's my sister you're talking about."

"Then you know better than most what I am talking about," Chad shot back.

"Watch it," Ryan repeated as he sunk lower into the water.

* * *

Chad cracked his eyes open at the sound of footsteps approaching. A short, blonde woman opened the door and smiled at them. "Ducky," she said and Ryan looked up.

"Mom." His whole face lit up with a smile. "I didn't know you were home."

"Just got back." She glanced at Chad. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Ryan blushed. "Mom, this is Chad. Chad, this is my mom."

"Nice to meet you," Chad said politely.

"Same here," she replied. "Anyway, dearest, I came to let you know that your sweet little friend, Gabby, is here with another young lady."

"Is it five already?" Ryan asked, surprise evident in his tone.

"Come and gone." She smiled again. "It's closer to five-thirty than five."

"Rats," Ryan said with a glance at his mother. "I guess we had better get out and see them."

"Yes, you better had." Her eyes twinkled. "I had them wait in the theater."

Ryan nodded. "Thanks mom. I'll be out in a moment."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Chad," she said and then she shut the door.

Chad cleared his throat. "She's nice."

"Of course she is." Ryan stood up and started for the stairs. "She's my mom."

"Not all moms are nice," Chad pointed out as he followed Ryan out of the hot tub.

"Duh." Ryan handed over a towel.

Chad rubbed his hair with it then ran it over his arms and chest. He watched as Ryan did the same. Warmth started to pool in his stomach as he noticed how low Ryan's trunks were riding. Chad looked away, quickly wrapping his towel around his hips to hide his response.

"You ready?" Ryan asked.

"Sure."

Ryan moved toward the door. "Let's head for the theater and tell the girls that we lost track of time. I'll have Rosie bring our clothing down and we can just get changed backstage."

"Backstage?"

"Yeah."

Chad frowned. "Wait, do you have a full out theater in your house?"

Ryan shook his head. "No. Not a full one. Just a practice stage. Sharpay and I got it for our eight birthday."

"Damn. All I got for my eight birthday was some G.I. Joes and a Super Soaker."

"I would have preferred a pony, but the parents insisted that a theater was much more practical," Ryan said with a shrug.

Chad let out a laugh. "Oh, well, of course it was." He followed Ryan out into the hallway. "Are you sure it's okay to drip water down the carpet? Because my mom would skin me alive if I did that in my house."

"This hall is lined with some sort of special water resistance carpet, so it's not a big deal."

"Really?" Chad looked down at the carpet. It looked normal to him.

Ryan grinned over his shoulder at him. "No. I was joking. But don't worry, nothing bad will happen to you on account of your dripping."

"Jackass," Chad muttered.

When they reached the stairs, they turned left instead of going up and then walked down the hall. Ryan knocked briefly on the only door and then pushed it open. "Sorry girls, I totally spaced on the time," he apologized as he walked into the room.

"It's okay," Gabby replied. "I know there isn't a clock in there."

"Hey," Chad said lamely as he entered. He was painfully aware of the fact that he was soaking wet and shirtless.

"Hey," Gabby shot back. "Cold?"

Chad glanced down at the goose bumps on his arms and grinned. "Yeah." He turned towards the other girl. "I'm Chad."

"I know." She smiled. "I'm Taylor. Taylor McKessie."

"I know," he shot back.

"Well now, I'm glad that's out of the way," Ryan said dryly. He walked over to an intercom and pushed the button down. "Rosie?"

"Yes?" a tinny voice answered.

"Can you get the clothing on my bed and bring it down to the theater? There should be two outfits."

"Certainly."

Ryan grinned. "Thanks a million. You're a total doll." He let go of the button and moved towards the large stage. "Have you set things up?"

Gabby shook her head, following him. "You know I'm afraid to touch anything."

They started fussing with some fancy looking equipment and Chad turned awkwardly to Taylor. "So, uh, you like science, right?"

"Yes."

Chad waited for her to continue. She didn't. "Yeah. I'm not really into science."

Taylor smirked. "I know. I've been in your bio class all year."

"You have?"

She nodded. "I'm in your homeroom too."

"I knew that one," Chad said with a grin. "Your announcements are about the only good thing that happens in that class."

"I try."

The door opened and a plump Asian woman came in hold two sets of clothing in her hands.

"Oh thank god." Chad hurried over to her and pointed to her right hand. "Those are mine."

"There you go," she said with a smile. "Ryan, I'll just leave yours on this table here."

"Thanks, Rosie." Ryan flashed her a grin.

"Buzz me if you need anything else."

Ryan nodded. "Will do."

"I'm just going to go change," Chad told Taylor before he walked over to Ryan. "You said something about going backstage."

"Sure, just head into the wings. I promise not to look."

"Me too," Gabby agreed.

"The wings?"

"Oh." Ryan gave him a surprised look. "The sides of the stage, you know, past the edge of the curtain." He pointed towards them.

Chad nodded and walked around to the steps and then climbed them. He moved into the wings and then set his clothing down on the ground. Quickly striping, he toweled the last of the moisture off and then stepped into his boxers and pulled up his jeans. He pulled his shirt over his head and then bent down to pick up the trunks and towel.

"What should I do with these?" he asked as he moved back onto the stage.

"Uh," Ryan glanced up. "Just roll the swimsuit up in the towel and put them on the table by the door."

"You want me to help Gabby?" Taylor asked. "That way you could get dressed and stop making a puddle on the stage."

Ryan smiled at her. "That would be great." He dropped what he was doing and headed for the steps, making his way towards the table to collect his clothes. For his part, Chad ignore the steps, walking to the end of the stage and then hopping down. He followed in Ryan's wake, dropping his damp trunks onto the table just as Ryan was picking his things up.

"That tub was amazing," Chad said in a low voice. "We totally have to do that again soon."

"Sure thing." Ryan jerked his head in the direction of the stage. "I'm going to go change now."

Chad nodded and then lay down the towel. He folded it over before putting the trunks on one end. It took hardly a second to roll it up. Chad turned back to the stage and watched as Taylor pushed a button on a remote and a large screen descended from the ceiling.

"Hey, Chad, can you hit the lights?" she called.

Chad spun on his heel and located light switch. He walked over to it and flicked it. The lights over the seats instantly cut out, leaving the stage still brightly lit.

"Perfect," Taylor said. "Come on up here and pick the first song."

"No way." Chad moved forward. "One of you is going first."

Gabby shook her head. "No, you are. It's tradition."

"She's right." Ryan came back onto the stage fully dressed. "Evans family tradition."

Chad scowled as he swung his legs onto the stage. "Traditions are made for breaking."

"Not this one." Ryan took the remote from Taylor. "So get over it and pick a song."

"Fine." Chad searched his mind, trying to come up with something that he wouldn't want to kill himself for singing. "How about My Generation by The Who?"

Ryan keyed something into the remote and then smiled. "Got it. Gabby, hand him the microphone."

"I hate you, by the way," Chad said conversationally as he took it.

Gabby blinked. "Why?"

"Because you lured me down here with false promises of brownies."

She laughed. "Oh, there will be brownies. After we've all sung our hearts out."

"I'm about to start it," Ryan warned.

Chad held the mike up, his heart racing. The words appeared on the screen and green numbers flashed in a countdown till the start of the song. The first verse was rough, but after that Chad got into it, singing as he strutted across the stage to Gabby and Taylor's clapping and Ryan's loud wolf whistles. He pumped his fist into the air as the final notes of the song faded, a sappy grin spread across his face.

"That was awesome," he said as he hoped off stage. He handed the microphone to Gabby and settled himself into one of the cushy chairs.

"You were great," she enthused. "Even better than Ryan."

"He was good," Ryan retorted, "but don't go crazy."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't you think he was amazing?" she asked Taylor.

"Oh no you don't," Taylor said, raising her hands. "I am not about to get in the middle of that."

Ryan snatched the microphone from Gabby. "Give me that." He climbed the steps of the stage as he thumbed through the menu, finally settling on When Doves Cry.

"Are you seriously doing Prince?" Chad scoffed. "Like he has anything on The Who."

"Philistine," Ryan charged. He glanced over his shoulder at the girls. "Backup?" They both nodded like their heads were about to fall off. "Great," he said as they rushed onto the stage and picked up their mikes.

He keyed up the song and then swiveled his hips in time to the music. Chad watched, memorized by the way that Ryan was moving. By the time the song was over, Chad was feeling warm again. He shook his head when Gabby offered him another turn, preferring to sit until the effects of Ryan's performance wore off.

Ryan left the girls to pick a song for themselves and dropped down into the seat next to Chad. "Still think that Prince isn't a match for The Who?"

"I don't care how hot your dance moves are, Prince will never be in the same league as The Who."

"You do realize you just called my dance moves hot, right?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

It was too dark to tell, but Chad was almost sure that Ryan blushed. Chad chewed on his pinky nail and debated with himself over what he should do next. If Ryan was a girl, it would have been perfectly clear. He would just lean over and kiss him. But Ryan wasn't a girl and while Chad was pretty certain he was bi, he had never had any practical experience with guys. Still, it couldn't be that different.

He waited until Taylor and Gabby were in the middle of Respect before nudging Ryan's leg with his foot. Ryan leaned over, a questioning look on his face, and Chad licked his lips nervously. "Does it bother you?' he asked.

"Does what bother me?"

"The fact that I think you are hot."

Ryan let out a little squeak. "What?"

Chad smirked. "You're hot."

"No, I'm not. Or, at least, you shouldn't think so," Ryan protested.

Chad raised his eyebrows. "And why is that?"

"Because you're straight!" Ryan's all but hissed. "And straight boys don't think I'm hot."

"That's where you're wrong." Chad moved so that his mouth was right next to Ryan's ear. "I'm not straight. And even if I was, you would still be smoking."

Ryan jerked back. "Bullshit."

Chad put a hand over his heart. "God's honest truth."

"But, I've seen you with girls. All the time."

"I go both ways. Especially for you." Chad reach over and ran his thumb along Ryan's bottom lip. "So are you going to kiss me now or what?" he asked softly.

Ryan was still so long that Chad thought he wasn't going to do anything, then he moved so swiftly that Chad was caught off guard. Ryan's lips were soft and his mouth had a faint taste of chlorine to it, but otherwise it was like any other kiss. Chad's hand went behind Ryan's head, pulling them closer together as he deepened the kiss. His tongue slid along Ryan's and he groaned as Ryan sucked on the tip of it. Ryan's hands moved to Chad's shirt, pushing up the bottom to explore his stomach and chest.

Chad felt himself harden and shifted in his seat, angling towards Ryan. He nipped at the other boy's lips, then kissed his way down Ryan's jaw to his neck. Chad delicately licked the side of it before biting down. Ryan let out a gasp, his fingers pinching one of Chad's nipples. Chad moaned and he pulled back, breathing hard. "Like I said, fucking hot."

"You can say that again," Gabby called from the stage.

Chad flipped her the bird and kissed Ryan again, ignoring the catcalls and whistles coming from the stage.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Troy slammed into him, knocking Chad off balance as he yanked the ball from Chad's hands.

"Hey!" Chad protested, backing up a step. "I thought this was a friendly game."

"What's the matter, Chadders? Can't handle a little competition?"

Chad frowned at the unpleasant edge in Troy's voice. "What's your problem?" he demanded his hands on his hips.

Troy scowled. "I don't have a problem, you do."

"Dude." Chad shook his head and held out his hand. "Give me my ball, I'm out of here."

"Maybe I don't want to." Troy spun the ball between his fingers and gave him an insolent look.

"Look, I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, but you've been acting weird since winter break and I'm way over it. So just give me my goddamn ball and let me get the hell out of here."

"I've been acting weird?" Troy let out a bitter laugh. "You've been acting weird. Hanging out with that freak, Ryan Evans, and his little band of followers all the time. You've even ditched practice so that you could help with that stupid musical of theirs. What the fuck is up with that? You don't even like musicals."

Chad wanted to punch Troy for calling Ryan a freak, but he just took a deep breath and said, "Oh, so it's okay for you to ditch me hang out with the Ice Princess all the time, but I'm not allowed to miss an unscheduled practice to hang out with my friends."

"Friends, yeah right." Troy slapped the side of the ball with one hand. "You don't have anything in common with them, other than the fact that you're human. And I am not ditching you to hang out with Sharpay. She's even more of a freak than Ryan."

"Then why are you auditioning with her for the spring musical?" Chad asked with a sneer.

"What?" Troy suddenly looked like he was about to ralph all over his shoes. "How did you find out about that?"

Chad gave him an amused look. "What part of 'Ryan is my friend' didn't you understand?"

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Troy asked, a pinched expression on his face.

"Not if you don't want me too," Chad answered. "But I don't see why you would. Won't everyone know after the fact?"

Troy blinked at him. "I hadn't thought of that."

"Why am I not surprised?" Chad asked with a laugh.

Troy plunked down on the ground with a sigh and tucked the ball under his arm. "You don't think everyone will be mad at me, do you?"

Chad dropped down beside him, his hands draped over his knees. "Naw. Why would they? You're the big man on campus. Everything you do is golden." He chuckled. "I bet you could decide you were into interpretive dance and it would suddenly be the new hotness."

Troy gave him a wide grin. "See, this is why I need you around. You keep my feet on the ground. Here I was freaking out, thinking the world would end if I decided I wanted to sing, and in less than two minutes you've got my head back in the game."

"Way to mix your metaphors, dude." Chad gave him a friendly shove. "Like anyone other than your mother would care about you singing."

"Yeah, well." Troy shrugged. He stared up at the sky for a bit and then said, "I've missed having you around."

"Didn't seem like it," Chad admitted grudgingly. "What with the way you kept disappearing on me and not answering my texts."

"Sharpay confiscates my phone before we start," Troy said sheepishly. "She says it ruins her concentration if it goes off while she's rehearsing."

Chad shook his head. "I can't believe you willingly hang out with her."

"She's not all that bad, once you get to know her."

"Neither is Ryan," Chad pointed out. He took a breath, wishing for the hundredth time that he hadn't promised Ryan not to tell anyone about them until things were more definite between them.

"Now that's something I just don't get. Why would you even want to hang out with him?" Troy asked with a confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" Chad snapped, feeling defensive.

"You know exactly what I mean. He's weird. And really into that whole dance drama thing."

"So, it's okay for you to be into that whole singing drama thing, but he can't like dancing?" Chad shot back. "Dude, I didn't know you were such a hypocrite."

Troy glared at him. "I'm not a hypocrite. It just doesn't seem to me that you would have anything in common with him. You hate dancing and musicals and all that other stuff your mom loves. And don't try to tell me you don't, because I've known you since before you could talk, and you hated them way back then."

"Yeah right, like you could even remember that far back." Troy opened his mouth but Chad held up a hand. "And even if you could, things change. Maybe I've matured, like my mom always said I would, and finally have an appreciation for the finer things in life."

Troy snorted. "And maybe a pig will fly out of my ass."

Chad made a face. "Dude, I hope not."

"Whatever, you know what I mean." Troy took the basketball in both hands and squeezed it. "I just don't get what you see in him is all."

"That would be why he is my friend and not yours." Chad lifted a shoulder. "And I don't think that there is anything else left to say about that."

Troy looked like he wanted to say something, but Chad glared at him and he settled back on the grass without opening his mouth. They lay side by side and Chad found himself remember when they were kids, doing this exact same thing. Except then they would have been talking about knights and dragons or which superpower they wished they had. Chad shifted, feeling nostalgic and wishing his life was still that uncomplicated. Troy sat up abruptly, interrupting Chad's thoughts.

"It's just not fair," he exploded. "Ryan's already got the hottest girl in the school hanging on his every word, why does he have to have you too?"

"Wait," Chad sat up slowly and held up a hand, "since when is Gabby the hottest girl in the school?"

Troy flushed and mumbled, "Have you looked at her? She's an angel."

Chad made a face. "Hardly. She's the bossiest person I know. And manipulative too. You tell her straight out that you are interested in doing whatever it is that she's gotten into her head and the next thing you know you're practicing vocab or studying algorithms or something equally idiotic."

Troy shook his head. "She's just single minded, nothing wrong with that. Plus, she's way smarter than everyone else, so of course she expects people to go along with her plans. And don't act like you haven't been acing all of your math and science tests since you started hanging out with her. I know that's not due to your study habits."

"Whatever." Chad shook his head. "Back to what matters, just because I've been hanging out with Ryan a lot doesn't mean that I am any less of your friend."

"Yeah right." Troy crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have any time for me now. You're always running off to do something stupid with him."

"And by something stupid you mean--" Chad gave Troy a meaningful look.

Troy shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned. "You know what I mean. You missed the last three Team Nights in a row and you didn't come with me to the junkyard last Saturday. We always go to the junkyard on Saturdays."

The hurt look on Troy's face made Chad pause. Maybe Troy had a point. He had been backing out of a lot of group events lately. And it was because he was with Ryan. But, well, he'd promised he wouldn't tell anyone yet. Which was really starting to suck. It would make everything so much easier if he could just tell Troy that he wanted some one on one time with his boyfriend instead of just canceling without giving a reason why. Chad sighed. He was going to have to have a long talk with Ryan in the near future. But for now, at least, he could do some damage control.

"Maybe you're right," Chad said slowly. "I have been kind of a dick about showing up to things lately. But that's not all on Ryan."

Troy snorted. "So it's just a coincidence that you stopped hanging out with me when you started hanging out with him?"

"Other way round. I started hanging out with him when you stopped hanging out with me. But whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry I've been bailing on you, bro. I promise I'll be a better friend in the future."

"You do that," Troy said with a grin. He hopped to his feet and dribbled the ball. "You ready to get schooled?"

"Yeah, right, Hoops," Chad shot back as he popped up and smacked the ball away. "Other way round."

* * *

"Stop that!" Sharpay slapped at Ryan's leg as he twirled past. Ryan ignored her as he kicked high and he belted out the end of the song. "Stop that," she said again, which was silly, since she knew good and well that the song was done. He gave her an amused look and then bent over, stretching his back and legs. "Show off," she muttered.

Ryan grinned at her as he popped back up. "And you aren't?"

She rolled her eyes and flipped over a page in her magazine. "You know I hate it when you sing the girl parts."

"Only because I'm better than you at it," he shot back.

"Hardly," Sharpay scoffed.

Ryan snorted and settled into an alternating chaînés and piqués. He studied his reflection as he turned, waiting for Sharpay to tell him about whatever it was that had her looking like a thundercloud. He was on his third time back across the room when she finally spoke.

"I don't like it."

"What? My form?" he joked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "This whole you being friends with other people thing. I don't like it." Sharpay tossed her magazine aside and jiggled her foot. "It's not right."

Ryan finished his turn and dropped his arms. "How is me having friends not right?" He walked over to his water bottle and took a drink. "You've got friends other than me."

"No I don't."

"Oh? Then what are Jackie, Lea and Emma?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Backup singers. Duh." She took a deep breath when Ryan didn't laugh. "Okay, so maybe I do have friends, but they aren't important and you know it."

"So maybe my new friends aren't important either," Ryan said calmly, putting the cap back on his water.

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid," Sharpay snapped. "Of course they are important. You spend practically all your time with them and they've got you eating carbs."

Ryan wrinkled his brow. "I've always eaten carbs."

"Whatever." Sharpay crossed her arms and pouted. "It's not fair! You've got a boyfriend and a best friend and what have I got?"

"Boi?" Ryan widened his eyes and tried to look innocent, but Sharpay still chucked her discarded magazine at him. He dodged it and laughed. "And things with Chad are complicated, as you very well know. He's," Ryan paused, searching for the right way to describe what he was. After all, he and Chad hadn't exactly formalized things between them yet and he was still sort of expecting things to implode, which made explaining whatever they were to himself tricky, let alone his sister.

"Dreamy?" Sharpay cut into his thoughts in a syrupy voice. She batted her eyelashes wildly, clutched her hands to her heart and mock swooned.

"Well, yeah," Ryan agreed, moving over to sit on the arm of her chair. "But besides that, he's a really cool guy. He's smart, funny and always smells good. Which is more important than most guys our age realize."

Sharpay rolled her eyes. "God, could you be any more in love?" She slumped in the chair, pouting like there was no tomorrow.

"Shar, you know you mean more to me than any of my friends." Ryan slid his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "You're my sister and I love you most of all."

"That's nice," Sharpay said, batting his arm away, "but utter crap. And you know it."

Ryan stood up. "Whatever." He walked over to the c.d., ignoring Sharpay's icy silence, and shut it off. Then he headed for the door. Right before leaving, he paused to say, "I told Ilya to make Tikka Masala for dinner with samosas and garlic naan."

"You can't bribe me with Indian food."

Ryan lifted his eyebrows.

"Oh, alright, I forgive you," Sharpay muttered ungraciously.

"Of course you do. I'm an Evans and no one can stay mad at us long." Ryan flashed her a grin and then left the room.

* * *

Chad pulled open his phone as soon as he left Troy's house and dialed Ryan's number. He listened to the chorus of Anything Goes and then heard Ryan's slightly breathless hello.

"You told me to call you when I left Troy's. So I am."

"What, no hello?" Ryan teased.

"Hello, Ryan. This is Chad, your tall, dark and handsome boyfriend. I was just wondering if you wanted to get lucky tonight," Chad replied.

Ryan laughed. "How lucky?"

"Lucky enough."

"Sounds good to me. Want me to pick you up?"

Chad cut through the Mermen's back yard. "Yeah, but I'm not home yet and I need to shower. So how about you show up in a half hour or so?"

"Were something nice," Ryan advised.

"Why? Do you want to go somewhere fancy or something?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"Dude, are we five?" Chad skirted around a mud puddle and then stepped back on the sidewalk across the street from his house. He looked up and down the street and then crossed it.

"Can't a guy surprise his boyfriend every once and a while?" Ryan asked with a melodramatic sigh.

Chad smiled as he walked up the steps to his front door. "Consider me surprised." He pushed open the door and then started to climb the stairs to his bedroom. "So I'll see you around six then?"

"With bells on," Ryan replied before he hung up the phone.

Chad snapped his phone shut and then walked down the hall to his room. He set his ball onto his bed and toed out of his shoes. Dropping onto his desk chair, Chad bent to remove his sock before tugging his shirt off at tossing it in the direction of his hamper.

"Something nice," he mused as he stood in front of his closet. He shook his head, deciding to deal with the issue of what he wore after his shower. Chad left his room and took a towel out of the hall closet, then went to the bathroom. He turned on the water, set the towel down and stripped off his shorts. Then he stepped into the shower.

He closed his eyes as the water rushed down his body, just enjoying the warmth of it. He reached blindly for the soap and then quickly rubbed himself down. The crisp, clean scent of the soap refreshed him almost as much as the water beating against his back. Chad turned and let the water run down the front of him, rinsing the dirt and sweat of the day away. He set down the soap and picked up a bottle of shampoo, squeezing some into his hands. As he massaged it into this hair, his thoughts drifted to Ryan. Chad felt himself grow hard and groaned. He turned again, washing the shampoo from his hair as his hands drifted downward.

The shampoo left his hand slick and he gasped as it closed around his erection. Chad sucked his lower lip into his mouth and pictured the way that Ryan had looked in the hot tub, water drops clinging to his chest and his trucks sagging low on his hips. Their make out sessions had left Chad with a pretty good impression of what would be under them and he stroked himself as he imagined peeling those trunks off and tossing them aside.

Chad moaned as his free hand tweaked a nipple. Ryan had this way of licking and sucking at Chad's neck that he just knew would translate into one hell of a blowjob. And his mouth, with those pink, puffy lips. Chad let his hand speed up as he thought about what it would feel like to have them on him. He gasped as he came and let the water wash him clean as he recovered from it.

When his legs felt like they could hold him, Chad reached up and shut off the water. He pushed open the shower door and grabbed the towel he had left on the toilet seat. The first thing he did was use it to it dry off his face, then he quickly ran it down his body and before stepping out of the shower, wrapping it around his hips. The mirror was fogged up, so he wiped a section off and then studied his reflection. There was a light shadow on his jaw and he ran his fingers along it, judging the length. It was a little too long to let go, so Chad reached for his shaving cream.

He whistled as foamed up his hands and then coated his face. He rinsed them off, dried them on the towel around his hips and picked up his razor. It slid over his skin with a soft rasping sound. Chad swished it in the water and tried to guess where Ryan was taking him tonight.

They hadn't really gone on a date since they started going out; they mainly just hung out at each other's houses and made out as much as possible. Which was perfectly fine as far as Chad was concerned. He didn't have a job, his parents said it would interfere with his studies, and so his spending money was limited to whatever he could save out of his lunch money. Which was pretty much nothing.

He stopped mid-shave and quickly calculated how much cash he had on hand. Chad winced when he realized that it was less than twenty bucks. Maybe going out to some fancy pants place wasn't such a good idea after all. He didn't want to come up short and wasn't exactly comfortable with the thought of Ryan paying for him. Chad frowned as he started shaving again. He would just have to convince Ryan that a burger and fries at Betty's Fifties Dinner was better than filet mingon and butter herb roasted potatoes at Vernon's Hidden Valley Steakhouse for forty-two dollars a plate.

Chad caught the end of his towel and patted his face dry, then straightened and studied his reflection again. He nodded, pleased with the smooth look of his face. He started whistling again as he applied deodorant and then left the bathroom. It wouldn't be that hard to get Ryan to change his mind. Chad would just point out that the faster they finished eating, the faster they would be able to get back to doing important stuff, like making out.

He glanced at the clock as he walked into his room and then cursed. It was ten minutes till six and he was still sopping yet. Chad pulled his towel free and dried his hair with it as he moved to his closet. He yanked a nice looking button down green shirt that his mother had bought him for the family Christmas picture and tossed it onto his bed. Then he hurried to the dresser and dug around until he found the slacks that went with it. They joined the shirt on the bed as he hunted for a pair of dress socks to go with his nice shoes.

Chad let out a crow of satisfaction when he found them. They got tossed over his shoulder onto the bed as he the grabbed the first pair of boxers he saw. He dropped the wet towel onto the floor and then slipped into them. The socks went on next and then the slacks. He shoved his arms into the sleeves of the shirt and then buttoned it all the way up. Then Chad rooted around in the back of his closet in an attempt to find his nice shoes. One of them was easy to spot, but the other one took awhile, since apparently Chad had decided to put it under a pile of gym shorts. He wrinkled his nose as he exacted it, telling himself remember to chuck the shorts into the hamper before they turned toxic.

He slid his feet into the shoes, wincing a little at the tight pinch on his toes. There was a reason he went for the jeans and tee look: It was comfortable. Chad sighed as he made his way back to the bathroom. One night wouldn't kill him and it would make his mother happy to know that she hadn't wasted money on clothes he only wore once. Once in front of the mirror, Chad undid the top two buttons on his shirt. Yeah, it was a little on the causal side, but he looked like a complete tool with them done up.

He ran a hand through his hair, wondering what he could do to tame it. Deciding that tying it back would have to do, he pulled open a drawer and hunted through his little sister's hair things. Sure enough, there was a dark green band that perfectly matched his shirt. Chad quickly secured it back and then sprayed a little bit of Cool Water into the air and then stepped into it, letting it settle on him evenly. He put the bottle down, gave himself one last once over and then left the bathroom.

The clock on the wall told him that it was two minutes after six when he made it to the living room. Chad sat on one of the couches and flicked on the tv, not wanting to appear too anxious when Ryan appeared.

"Going somewhere?" his mother asked as she bustled into the room.

"Yeah. Out with friends."

"Troy?"

Chad shook his head. "No. Other friends."

"Oh," his mother laughed. "I didn't know you had any."

"Mom," Chad protested.

She laughed some more and opened her mouth, but was cut off by a knock on the door.

"That would be them," Chad said, jumping up to open it. "All call you if I'm going to be out late."

"You do that," he mother answered as she walked over and turned off the tv. "Have fun and be safe."

Chad rolled his eyes but said, "I will." He pulled open the door, grinned at Ryan and then stepped outside before his mother could give him any more advice. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"In a rush?" Ryan asked as he started walking, his eyes skimming up and down Chad's body.

"To be alone with you?" Chad grinned. "You bet ya."

Ryan laughed, then said, "You clean up nicely."

Chad's grin got wider. "So do you." He touched the brim of Ryan's black fedora.

"Yes, well," Ryan gave a self-deprecating smile. He stopped at his car and unlocked the door and opened it.

Chad climbed inside, pulling the door shut behind him. He glanced around admiring again how sweet the interior looked. "I love this car."

"So do I," Ryan said as he got behind the wheel. "Ready for an adventure?"

"Yeah, about that," Chad paused and then pushed ahead. "I don't know what you have planned for tonight, but I'm a little low on funds right now so," he trailed off.

"Don't worry about it."

Chad made a face. "Seriously, dude. I don't want to be rude or anything but--"

"Then stop protesting as just enjoy the evening," Ryan cut him off as he started the car.

"Okay," Chad said grudgingly, "but only if you let me get the next one."

"Deal." Ryan reached over and squeezed Chad's hand.

Chad leaned into Ryan's space as dropped a kiss on his neck. "So what am I'm going to be enjoying?" he asked as he settled back into his seat.

"Well, a typical first date is dinner and a movie, but I'm not typical. So I thought we could hit up the Mystery Café."

"And enjoy murder with our meal?" Chad asked, quoting the advertisement.

"Exactly."

Chad smiled. "A wise choice, my good man."

Ryan smiled back at him. "I thought you'd say that."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Chad watched at Ryan and Gabby twirled on stage, singing about finally finding what they were looking for and barely kept from rolling his eyes. "This is terrible," he whispered to Taylor, who was sitting next to him.

"I think it's cute," she said without looking up from her work.

"You would," he shot back.

Taylor sighed, shut her book and studied the pair on the stage. "She's a little pitchy for me and he should cut the jazz squares from the act, but over all it's typical musical theater. Fluff, nonsense and a big dollop of cheese."

"Have you even listened to the lyrics?" Chad asked in amazement.

"Yes, actually, I have." Taylor flipped her book back open. "I've got them memorized, in fact. Gabby asked me to help her by singing the boy parts so that she could get the timing right."

"Ryan didn't ask me to help him."

Taylor laughed. "Probably because he knew you wouldn't want to sing the girl parts."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chad said, mollified. "But back to what I was saying, the song is crap."

"Well, yes, but that's not the point." Taylor sat back in her chair. "The lyrics are extremely commonplace. Trite, really. Still, they fit nicely together and the song actually sounds good when you listen to it. Yes, it's banal. But this is a high school play named Twinkle Town that features two lonely music students who meet on the set of their high school musical. Which is also named Twinkle Town. Not exactly Tony award winning stuff here, Chad."

"It just could use some oomph is all."

"Oomph? As in, what, giant robots from space?" Taylor gave him an amused look. "Remember that Kelsi wrote this. Kelsi. The quiet, sort of mousy girl with the glasses. What did you expect?"

Chad scratched his cheek. "That's a good point."

The music finished and Ryan said, "That was pretty good over all, Gabby. I think that we almost got it."

Gabby nodded. "I'm still just a little behind on the second shuffle-ball step, but other than that it's coming together nicely."

"So let's take a little break and we'll try it again in five. Sound good?"

Gabby nodded again, moving over to her water bottle. Ryan hopped off the stage and walked over to where Chad and Taylor were sitting. He picked up his hand towel and wiped his face off. "What did you guys think?"

"It's a little heavy on the cutesy stuff, but I think that will actually work in your favor with Darbus. She's all about the over the top cheese."

Ryan tossed his towel at Chad. "Just because you don't appreciate it doesn't make it cheese."

Chad caught the towel, put it on the chair next to him and stood up. He stretched and then moved over to Ryan's side, wrapping an arm around his waist. "You were wonderful, baby."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "You need to cut the jazz squares."

"Everyone loves a good jazz square," Ryan said with a baffled look.

"No," Taylor retorted, "they don't."

Chad kissed the side of his neck. "What do you say that you wrap this up early and you and me head back to my place for a little quality time?"

"Keep it in your pants, Romeo," Taylor warned.

Ryan laughed. "I hate to say it, but she's right. Now is not the time." He glanced at the clock. "Speaking of time, Gabby, you ready to go again?"

"Sure." Gabby pulled her hair up into a ponytail and wrapped a rubber band around it. "This time I won't be late."

Ryan turned and gave Chad a quick kiss. "Only about a half an hour more, then we can have that quality time."

Chad dropped his arm. "Tease."

"Don't you know it," Ryan said with a wink.

"You two are enough to make me sick," Taylor announced.

Ryan grinned at her. "Sick with envy."

"I'm turning the music on, Ryan," Gabby said sharply.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Ryan called to her, swinging his legs to get onto the stage.

Chad watched them go through the number again before turning back to Taylor. "He still wants to keep our relationship under wraps."

Taylor blinked at him. "Is this something you should be sharing with me?"

"You're my hag, aren't you?" Chad teased.

Taylor pinned him with a look. "I thought I made it perfectly clear how I felt about being called that."

"Whatever, you are. So tell me, what does that mean?"

"Aren't you a guy? Doesn't that make you an expert?" Taylor flipped a page of her book, but Chad was certain she wasn't actually reading it.

"Dude, Ryan isn't like other guys. If it was Troy, it would be easy. If he was telling some girl that he didn't want his bros to know, it would mean that he wasn't ready to commit. But you and Gabby are the equivalent of Ryan's bros, and you already know about us. So yeah. Not sure how to take this secrecy thing."

Taylor lifted a shoulder. "I know about as much as you do. Like I told you before, the person you should be having this conversation with is Ryan."

Chad made a face. "I tried."

Taylor perked up. "Really? What happened?"

"He distracted me," Chad muttered.

"How?"

"Well, he--"

"Wait," Taylor held up her hands, "I take it back. I don't want to know."

Chad smirked at her. "Bottom line is that, while I ended up having a good time, I still don't know what up with him."

Taylor took a deep breath. "You know what, I'm just going to say it. You might think I'm crazy, but I'm going to." She snapped her book shut and turned towards him. "I don't think he's all the serious about you."

Chad swallowed. "Why do you say that?" he asked slowly.

"Look, if he were really into you he would be telling everyone he knows what a great guy you are. He wouldn't be asking you to act like you are just a friend at school. Not that how relationships work. In fact, if you were a girl I would tell you to dump his ass. It's just not right."

"But I'm not a girl," Chad pointed out.

"Which is why I've held my tongue." Taylor glanced at the stage and then leaned close. "You are a guy so you know what guys are like. Even so, I say don't have sex with him."

"Dude. Don't you think that is a bit extreme? It's not like I'm going to get pregnant or something," Chad joked.

"No, you won't. But that doesn't mean he won't use you and lose you."

Chad sobered up. "You have a point."

Taylor gave him a crisp nod. "Don't sleep with him and if he is still being all secretive in a month, tell him to either make things public or you'll leave him."

"Guys don't like ultimatums."

"And girls don't like being treating with disrespect."

"I'm not a girl," Chad said through gritted teeth.

"And I'm not a hag," Taylor replied sweetly.

Chad opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by his phone ringing. He tugged it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Talk to me."

"Dude, boys night at Betty's," Troy said in his ear.

Chad looked at the stage and then sighed. "I don't know. I think I might have plans with Ryan."

Troy snorted. "So break 'em."

"Bro, I can't just break my plans because you want me to."

"Why not?" Troy asked. "I'm your best friend and this is a team event. Ryan will understand."

"I don't think that he will."

"Dude." Troy sounded pissed. "You promised me that you would stop ditching me to hang out with your new best friend all the time. Seriously, you two are fucking attached at the hip."

"Don't be a douche. I made plans with Ryan before you called me."

"Whatever," Troy snapped. "The whole team is going to be there. Are you going to miss it because you and Ryan are painting your toenails and gossiping?"

"Fuck you." Chad slammed his phone shut and glared at it.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked from the stage.

"Troy," Chad answered. "He wants to know why I can't just break my plans with you to hang out with him and the team." He glanced at Taylor, took a breath and said, "Ryan, just let me tell him about us. It will get him off my back."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair and then pointedly looked at Gabby and Taylor. "I'd rather not talk about this here."

"Why not?" Chad was pissed and spoiling for a fight. He crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. "They both know that you don't want us to go public yet."

"Maybe I'd like to keep my personal life personal," Ryan shot back.

"And maybe it would be a good time for us to leave," Taylor said, standing up. "Come on, Gabby, we don't need to be here for this."

Gabby gave Ryan a searching look. "I'll call you later, okay?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, sure." He sat down on the edge of the stage and crossed his legs in some sort of yoga pose.

Chad watched as Taylor and Gabby gathered up their things. Part of him wanted to have them stay, knowing that things would not get out of hand if they did. But a bigger part of him knew that it was for the best if they left. As soon as the door shut, he turned back to Ryan.

"So what's your deal? Why don't you want anyone knowing about us?"

Ryan took a deep breath and then let it out again. "I understand that you are confused and that being confused makes you angry, but please just try and listen to me. I am a very private person. I don't like anyone knowing my business. You and me, we are good together. I love spending time with you and truly enjoy your company. But we have only been dating for about a month. To me, that is way to soon to know if this is going to last and I would prefer not to have the entire school know about my dating life until things are more established between us."

Chad rubbed his forehead. "We are in high school, Ryan. Typical relationships last about six months tops. Now, I'm not saying that you and I will be gone with the wind before winter sets in, but still. This waiting thing, it just doesn't hold water with me."

"Look, how about this. If we are still together in two months, then we will tell everyone."

Chad shook his head. "No way. I'm not going to go on hiding the fact that you are my boyfriend."

Ryan pressed his fingers over his eyes. "I can see that this matters to you, and I promise to give it some thought, but I'm really not comfortable with telling people right now. Can you give me another month?"

"Two weeks, tops."

"Fine." Ryan sighed. "You can tell your friends in two weeks. But not a second before."

Chad beamed. "Awesome!"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't really want to hang out right now." Ryan rubbed his neck. "It's going to take some getting use to, this whole idea of telling people. I'd rather just meditate a bit and try to get back in balance. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure! If I get to tell people in two weeks then I don't mind at all." Chad stood up and moved to the side of the stage. He put his hands on either side of Ryan's legs and kissed him.

Ryan was stiff at first, then melted, his arms coming up around Chad's back and his legs uncrossing. Chad sucked at Ryan's mouth, nibbling on his lower lip. Ryan clutched at him, breaking the kiss at suck on the underside of Chad's jaw. Chad shifted is weight to one hand and moved the other one between Ryan's legs. Ryan moaned as Chad rubbed his palm against the bulge in Ryan's pants.

Chad grinned as he pulled back. "I'll tell you something that will make you a whole lot happier about us going public. As soon as Troy knows that you're my boyfriend, I'm going to go down on you," Chad promised.

"You are such a fucking tease," Ryan accused.

"You love it." Chad bent down at kissed the side of Ryan's leg.

Ryan hissed. "Get out of here before I jump you."

Chad gave him a smug look. "You're wonderful too, darling," he drawled. Chad smiled to himself as he crossed back over to the chairs to get his bag. Not only was Ryan going to let him tell people about them, he was finally going to get to do something about his blue balls.

* * *

"I don't want to go out," Ryan pouted.

"Come on, it will be fun." Sharpay batted her eyes at him.

Ryan made a face. "I am your brother, Shar. That doesn't work on me."

"Ryan," Sharpay somehow managed to turn his name into something possessing twenty syllables.

"Oh for god's sake. Fine. I'll go with you."

Sharpay beamed at him. "Great!" she grabbed his hand and started dragging him towards the door.

"Oh my god, no. I'm not going in this."

Sharpay gave him a once over. "You look fine."

"I look like hell. I just finished dance rehearsal and fighting with Chad. I need to detox before I do anything."

"But I have reservations," Sharpay wheedled. "We have to go right now or we won't get a table."

Ryan sighed. "Why did you make reservations without consulting me first? For all you know I could have been planning on spending tonight with Chad."

"I wanted to surprise you, so sue me." Sharpay looked pointedly at the clock. "Now get a move on. We are going to be late."

"I hate you."

"You only say that because you wish you were as glamorous as me." Sharpay caught hold of his arm and started tugging again.

"Let go, I'm coming." Ryan shook free and trotted towards the door. "I don't know what has gotten into you tonight."

Sharpay pursed her lips. "I just want to spend time with you. You've been all about your stupid boyfriend and your lame ass friends and I haven't had a minute alone with you in ages."

"Chad isn't stupid and my friends aren't lame."

"Whatever." Sharpay brushed her hair off of her face. "I'm driving." She pulled her keys out of her purse and jingled them.

Ryan laughed. "You always drive, Shar."

"I know." She stopped by the side of her car and pushed the button to unlock the door. "It's because my car is better."

"We have the same car."

"Mine is pink."

"And has your initials painted on it." Ryan opened the door and climbed inside. "Neither fact adds to the overall car."

Sharpay jabbed the key into the ignition and smiled as it roared to life. "Don't hate." She put it into reverse and then backed onto the driveway. She put it in drive and sped down to the street, barely stopping before she entered the flow of traffic. "Now, listen, I'm taking you somewhere different. It's not what I normally go for, but I have it on go authority that it has good service and excellent food. So I don't want to hear any complaining."

"Are you taking me to Denny's or something?" Ryan asked with a wrinkle of his nose.

"God, no. You know how I feel about chain restaurants." Sharpay shivered in disgust. She took a sharp right and then an immediate left, turning into a familiar parking lot.

"Hey, I've been here," Ryan said. "Chad took me."

"Not surprising, seeing as how I heard about this place from Troy."

"Troy is your so-called good source?" Ryan lifted his eyebrows in amazement. "How far you have fallen."

Sharpay slapped his leg as she put the car in park. "Don't start with me, Ry, or I will decide not to treat you to dinner."

"Cause that's a big hardship."

She glowered at him. "And make you walk home."

Ryan held up his hands in surrender. "All right, All right, I won't mention how I feel about a certain mutual acquaintance of ours."

"Good." Sharpay pushed open her door and stepped out. She straightened her skirt, touched her hair and then smiled at her reflection in the side mirror. "Are you coming or what?" she demanded as she slammed the door shut.

"Way ahead of you, sister." Ryan did a quick step to the front door and held it open. "This way, if you please."

Sharpay preened as she passed him and he touched the brim of his hat. "You are such a ham," she teased.

"Quite." He let the door shut behind and then looked around. "Not very many people here tonight."

"It's fairly early." Sharpay flagged down a passing waitress. "Table for two." The woman nodded and picked up to plastic covered menus.

"This way." She started to lead them to a table in the middle of the room but Sharpay shook her head.

She marched to a booth on the far side of the restaurant that was partially hidden by plants on one side and a tall frosted glass panel on the other. "I want to sit here," she announced.

The waitress looked like she wanted to say something, but Sharpay flashed a smile and handed her five dollars. "I'm sure that's fine," the woman grumbled, pocketing the money. She slapped the menus down and grunted, "Someone will be with you shortly."

"I thought you said you had reservations," Ryan said as he slid into the booth.

Sharpay shrugged. "You would have taken forever to get ready and I was hungry." She picked up her menu and studied the front for a moment before flipping it over with a frown. "Don't they have anything that isn't loaded with fat and dripping with grease?"

Ryan chuckled. "That's what you get when you ask the likes of Troy Bolton for dinning suggestions." He placed his menu to the side, unlooked at. "Just get a Betty Burger with a side of fries and a milkshake. You won't be sorry."

"My thighs will be," Sharpay snipped, but she set the menu aside.

"So," Ryan leaned forward. "Any particular reason you wanted me to go to dinner with you?"

She nodded. "I want to talk to you about this whole auditioning with thing. I know that you got your feelings hurt when I said I wanted to work with Troy, and I understand why you did it, but fun time is over now. You've made your point. So just stop while you are ahead."

Ryan leaned back in the booth, a sour look on his face. "If you going to try to talk me out of auditioning let me tell you right now that you are wasting your time."

Sharpay huffed and tapped her finger on the tabletop. "_You_ are waiting _your_ time. You know you and that mousy little Gabby girl are no match for Troy and me."

"If we were no match then you wouldn't be trying to so hard to eliminate us from the competition," Ryan said wryly, then smiled at the waitress who walked up with her notepad out. "I'd like a Betty Burger, fries and a chocolate peanut butter milkshake, please."

"I'll have the same, but make my milkshake strawberry and have the condiments for the burger on the sides." Sharpay set her menu on top of Ryan's. "Oh, and can I have a glass of iced water with a slice of lemon."

"Coming right up," the waitress said as she scribbled down the order.

Sharpay waited for her to leave before leaning in and hissing, "I am trying to save you from abject humiliation. We both know that I am the powerhouse of the act." She sat back with a satisfied expression. "But, whatever, do what you want to do. I've done my duty as a sister."

Ryan took his hat off and spun it in his hands. "I love you, Shar, really I do. But someday life is going to smack the smug look right off of your face."

"So anyway," Sharpay shook back her hair, "I talked to Daddy about having a party at the clubhouse next month. Just a select group, you, me, the Darling brothers, Edward, Jonathon and, of course, Jackie, Lea and Emma. He said that he would be fine with it as long as mother was on board, and since she's really your area of expertise," she trailed off expectantly.

Ryan nodded. "I'll ask her." He sat back as the waitress arrived with their drinks. "Thank you," he said as she set his milkshake in front of him.

"I asked for lemon with my water," Sharpay complained.

The waitress flushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll have that right out for you."

"Do." Sharpay sighed. "I guess one can only expect so much from a place like this."

"At least wait until she is out of earshot," Ryan whispered, shooting a nervous glance at the waitress' retreating back.

"Oh, Ryan, it's her job." Sharpay picked up her shake and took a long drink. "That is surprisingly good," she said after she swallowed.

"I know. Whatever it's faults, this place sure knows how to make a decent milkshake." Ryan glanced at the door as a loud party entered. He did a double take when he realized that it was comprised of the members of the basketball team. He started to stand, but stopped when Sharpay put a restraining hand on his arm.

"You promised."

He gave her a baffled look. "What?"

"You promised that this was going to be a you and me thing."

"No I didn't."

She huffed. "Okay, so maybe you didn't, but he's with his friends and I don't want them ruining my meal."

Ryan sank back down. She was right, Chad was with his friends. And there wouldn't be anyway for him to join the group without awkward questions. "Let's just eat fast then. I don't want him to see me and then get all upset about me not saying hi."

"You have got to get that boy in line," Sharpay said with a snort.

Thankfully, the food arrived then, preventing the conversation from going any farther. Ryan reached for the ketchup and poured a generous amount onto his fries, ignoring the disgusted noises that Sharpay was making. He picked up a couple of them and shoved them in his mouth, eyes rolling in appreciation. Sharpay cut her burger into halves with her fork and knife and then daintily picked up one half and nibbled on it. Ryan shook his head in disbelief.

"I can't believe you eat like that."

She made a moue of distaste. "And I can't believe you eat like that."

Ryan picked up his burger with two hands and took a giant bite. "Like this?" he asked with his mouth full.

"Ew, gross much?" she pulled a face. "I know your mother taught you better manners than that."

Ryan swallowed and then opened his mouth to speak, but was silence by the conversation of the group that settled on the other side of the frosted glass. He could clearly hear Chad fending off the other boys' questions about his recent absences from group activities. Ryan's throat went dry as he suddenly lost all desire to eat.

"Dude, just admit it. You've been ditching us to hang out with that weirdo, Ryan Evans," Troy said with obvious distaste.

"And you've been spending tons of time with his sister," Chad shot back.

"Who wouldn't?" Zeke asked. "She's super hot."

Sharpay looked about as conceited as humanly possible and Ryan rolled his eyes.

"And a mega bitch," someone else said. Sharpay scowled as the rest of the boys laughed.

Ryan leaned across the booth and whispered, "We should just leave. This isn't going to pretty for either of us."

"No." Sharpay's eyes glittered. "I refuse to be chased out of here by a bunch of brainless jocks."

With a sigh, Ryan shifted in his seat. "I really don't want to listen to this."

"Then leave," she snapped. "I don't care. You can just walk home. I'm going to eat my dinner and then order desert and linger over it."

"Sharpay," he started, but was once again stopped by the conversation at the other table.

"Seriously, dude," Troy said again, "What is with you and Ryan?"

"Nothing is with us. I just like hanging with him. He's cool. And his house is off the hook."

"Did I tell you about how Kelsi told me about their indoor swimming pool?" Jason interjected.

"Yeah, a hundred times," someone else replied.

Chad laughed. "And I told you they don't have one. Just a giant ass hot tub."

"I wouldn't mind being in the hot tub with Sharpay," Zeke commented to the groans of the table.

"You need serious help," Chad advised.

Troy laughed nastily. "Not as much as you do."

"Dude, shut the fuck up or I'm out of here," Chad said angrily.

"And what? Go running back to Ryan?" Troy laughed again. "What are you going to do next, quit the team and start swanning around in some leotard and singing sonnets?"

There was a chorus of "Oh, burn" from the rest of the group and then the sound of fist hitting flesh.

"Troy must be right," Jason laughed. "Otherwise Chad wouldn't be getting his panties in a bunch."

"No, Troy is not right," Chad bit out. "That's not me. I don't do that sort of thing. You are never going to see me prancing around on stage like some fucking fairy. So just shove it up your ass, would you."

Hurt and anger mixed together in Ryan and jumped to his feet before he knew what he was doing.

"Don't!" Sharpay caught hold of his arm but he shook her off.

"Excuse me," he said loudly, walking around to where the whole lot them were sitting. They started when they saw him, guilty looks creeping over their stupid faces.

"Fuck," Chad said, his face completely losing its color. "Ryan, look, I didn't mean that they way it sounded."

Ryan held up a hand. "Save it, you asshole. I could understand something like that coming from lumps of idiocy, but you?" he shook his head.

"Dude, I'm--"

"I said save it. I never want to hear anything you have to say again." He turned on his heel and started to walk away.

"Ryan!" Sharpay came running up to him. "Don't go. We haven't finished yet. Don't let them ruin our night."

He ran his hand over his face. "You finish, Shar. I can't. I just can't."

"But what about," she glanced over her shoulder, a worried look on her face.

"I'm going to walk home. I need to clear my head. As for Chad, fuck him." Ryan felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Look, I've got to get out of here. I'll see you at home, alright."

She nodded, concerned clearly stamped across her face. "Be careful," she said as she pulled him into a quick hug.

Ryan didn't say anything, just started walking, pushing out the front door into the harsh light of the sun.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Chad slumped against the wall, idly spinning his ball between his hands. He gazed dejectedly across the basketball court, wishing that there was something he could do to fix the mess he found himself in. He heard the loud thump of the door of the gym slamming shut and then the squeak of sneakers on the hardwood floor. Chad let out a sigh. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his team right now.

"Hey."

Chad glanced up, surprised to see Zeke standing in front of him. "What?" he knew he sounded surly and he didn't care.

Zeke rubbed his jaw. "Look, I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't in on what went down and I think it was seriously uncool."

"What?" Chad repeated, surprised.

"It's not my business and I won't be offend if you tell me to fuck off, but I know that you and Ryan were," Zeke paused, "is it cheesy to say 'more than friends?'"

Chad grinned in spite of himself. "Yeah. But I won't hold it against you."

"Well, there's that." Zeke moved to the wall and slid down it, his legs stretched out in front of him. "Like I said, I didn't know about the whole setup, but I still want to apologize for begin part of it."

"Setup," Chad said slowly. "As in, someone set me up?"

Zeke gave him a sharp look. "Dude, I thought you knew that--" he trailed off.

"Knew that what?" Chad demanded.

"I hate to break it to you, bro, but Troy totally arranged that little scene." Zeke crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know what he told everyone else, but he sort of hinted to me that he was going to 'fix' the problems the team had been having with you." He gave Chad a quick glance, then looked out across the court again. "Not that I had a problem. Or the rest of the team, for that matter. It was pretty much only Troy. He had been going on for weeks about how you had lost your team spirit and stuff."

"Dude. I never even missed a practice!" Chad said angrily. Zeke snorted and Chad revised, "Oh, all right, but that wasn't a scheduled practice. Just a pick up game during free period."

Zeke nodded. "But you never missed something like that before." He held up his hands, warding off whatever Chad might have said in response. "I'm not trying to jump all over your shit here, Chad. You were with Ryan," he cleared his throat, "and that's perfectly understandable, since he was your, erm, whatever."

"Boyfriend," Chad said aggressively. "Not that it matters now. He won't even text me, let alone answer my calls." He shook his head. "Which is bull, since it was his stupid idea to keep the whole thing a secret."

Zeke awkwardly patted Chad's shoulder. "That sucks. Both him not talking to you and the whole keeping secrets thing. I mean, I've never had to hide something that big before, but I've got my own hobbies that I don't want getting out and not being able to talk about them sucks. So I would imagine it would be ten times worse with the whole secret boyfriend thing."

Chad turned towards Zeke. "You have hobbies you don't want getting out?" he asked with raised eyebrows. "Dude."

Zeke blushed and glanced down at his feet. "I bake," he mumbled.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you," Chad teased.

Zeke slugged him in the arm. "I bake, you twat."

"Like cakes and brownies and shit?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." Chad grinned.

"Cool?" Zeke repeated, a confused look on his face.

Chad's grin grew bigger. "Totally cool. This means that I've got two sources of baked goods to mooch off of." His face fell. "Or, at least, I would if Gabby were talking to me. Which she isn't, because of the drama with Ryan." Chad sighed.

"Suck," Zeke said sympathetically. "I would have loved to have someone to compare notes with."

"She'd probably talk to you," Chad pointed out. "After all, you didn't call her B.F.F. a fairy."

Zeke reached out and snagged Chad's ball. "Yeah, but I'd have to tell her about the fact that I bake, which is sort of a secret, remember?"

Chad made a face. "Whatever. That's a cool secret. Plus, Gabby isn't judgmental like that." He pushed off the wall and stood. "Want to do a little one on one?"

"Sure." Zeke scrambled to his feet. "Have you tried talking to him in person?"

"Talking to..." Chad blinked. "Oh! Ryan. Naw."

Zeke dribbled the ball. "Why not?"

"Duh. He made it pretty clear he doesn't want to have anything to do with me." Chad smacked the ball out of Zeke's hands and took off down the court with it.

"So?" Zeke angled in front of him, screening the hell out of him.

Chad reverse pivoted, "So I don't want to cause another scene." He moved around Zeke and headed swiftly down the court, aimed and shot. The ball swished through the next and Zeke rushed for it.

"Don't punk out." Zeke called as he sprinted towards the far hoop.

Chad caught up to him and glared as he deflected Zeke's attempt at an up and under. "That's a low blow, dude."

"I call them as I see them." Zeke did a crossover dribble. "Now shut up and play. Your head is anywhere but in the game."

"Shut up and play," Chad mimicked. Then Zeke broke away from him and Chad decided to take his advice both about getting his head in the game and manning up and facing Ryan in person.

* * *

"Hey, Gabriella!"

Ryan and Gabby turned towards the sound and Ryan felt bitterness well up in him. Troy Bolton, of all people, was rushing towards them. No doubt coming to ruin the one friendship he had left. He glanced at Gabby and she returned it with a sympathetic smile.

"We'll talk more as soon as I get rid of him," she promised in an undertone.

Troy caught himself up short as he reached them and ran a hand through his hair. He gave Ryan a narrow-eyed look that let him know how little he was wanted, then smiled widely at Gabby. "I need to talk to you."

Of course he did. Ryan did his best not to make a face. "That would be my cue to leave," he said flippantly. He waggled his fingers at Gabby. "Ta."

She caught hold of his hand. "There's not reason for you to go."

"But," Ryan cut his eyes to Troy, "don't you think it would be, um, awkward if I stay?"

"Not at all." Gabby tossed her hair and gave Troy a cold look. "I'm sure this won't take long at all and I want to finish our conversation."

"Okay," Ryan said after a long pause.

"So," Gabby turned to Troy, "what did you want to talk about?"

Troy didn't answer and Ryan noticed Troy was staring at his and Gabby's hands.

"Hello, earth to Troy." Gabby dropped Ryan's hand and snapped her fingers under Troy's nose.

"Huh?"

Gabby sighed. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh," Troy grinned. "That. Yeah. I was thinking," he paused, ducked his head and shoved his hands into his pockets, "that maybe you would want to come with me to catch a movie on Saturday."

"Why would I want to do that?" Gabby crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

Troy deflated. "I should have known," he muttered. "I mean, you and Ryan and all."

"Exactly," she snapped. "Anyone with a brain would know that I would never, ever date someone who hurt my best friend."

"Hurt your best friend?"

Ryan sighed inwardly. Only Troy could pull off baffled and hot at the same time. "It's not that big of a deal," he told Gabby.

"Not that big of a deal?" Gabby pointed her outrage in his direction. "Is he or is he not the reason you and Chad broke up."

"Gabby!" he hissed as Troy made a choking noise.

She ignored him, focusing instead on Troy, who was now the shade of an overly ripe plum. "Even if Ryan wasn't my best friend, I still wouldn't date you. Anyone who is cold enough to hurt someone as close to them as Chad supposedly is to you isn't anyone who I want to know." Gabby spun on her heel and grabbed Ryan's arm. "Come on, I'm done here."

"Wait!" Troy called after them as they started to walk away. "Hey, I said wait." He ran in front of them, forcing them to stop. "Look, I don't know what is going on between Chad and Ryan, but getting them to stop hanging out was totally Sharpay's idea. She said that she would make it that I got my best friend back as long as I did what she said." He bit his lip. "I'm so stupid. I should have known she had something up her sleeve."

Ryan felt himself go cold. "Sharpay?" he whispered.

Gabby snorted. "Even if you were Sharpay's chump, you still should have seen how upset you made both of them. And besides, I haven't seen Chad anywhere near you since things went down."

"Yeah, well, things didn't exactly go the way that I thought they would," Troy admitted sheepishly.

"Then it shouldn't upset you too much that things aren't going to work out here either. Excuse me, I really need to go." Gabby tugged on Ryan and started walking in the direction of the parking lot.

Ryan stumbled in her wake, not sure what was going on anymore. Sharpay had a hand in it after all, despite all her protests to the contrary. Why was he not surprised? He made a disgusted noise and shook his head. Sharpay had her wonderful points, but at her core was a hard bedrock of selfishness and not even her family was immune to her machinations if they got in her way. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice when Gabby stopped abruptly. Ryan stepped back quickly to avoid smacking into her.

"Are you alright?" Gabby peered into his face like the mysteries of the universe were written on it and she didn't like what they were revealing.

"I'm fine," Ryan mumbled.

She pursed her lips. "I'm not a mind reader or anything, but you are lying through your teeth right now."

Ryan lifted a shoulder. "Okay, I'm not alright. But what can you do about it? Nothing. So why share?"

"Ryan," Gabby sighed and pulled him into a tight hug. "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I'm sure she's sorry for what she did. Haven't you told me that she's been acting overly nice and sort of guilty lately?"

"Yeah," Ryan slipped free of her embrace. "But she still did it, didn't she? And she hasn't tried to make things right between--" he let his voice trail off as his eyes caught sight of who was barreling towards them. "Christ, just when I thought today couldn't get any worse."

Gabby glanced over her shoulder and then caught Ryan's hand in hers and squeezed. "Do you want me to stay?"

He nodded and squeezed her hand back. "More than anything. I can't face him alone right now."

"Don't worry, wildcat, I've got your back."

The thought of tiny little Gabby protecting him from Chad was enough to make him laugh. She joined in and they didn't stop until Chad was standing in front of them and clearing his throat meaningfully.

"Do you need a cough drop?" Gabby asked between giggles.

Chad gave them both baffled looks. "Sometimes I think the pair of you are mentally unhinged or something."

Ryan instantly lost all urge to laugh. "Did you want something?" he asked coldly.

"Uh," Chad scratched the side of his neck, "yeah. We need to talk."

"Not interested." Ryan made to move around him, but Chad blocked his path. Ryan glanced at Gabby. "Didn't we just do this with Tweedledum?"

"What?" Chad had that blank, confused expression on his face again. "Never mind, it's not important. Look, Ry, I was wrong. Really, really wrong. And I'm sorry. More sorry than I can possible say." He licked his lips nervously. "All I keep thinking about is how stupid this whole thing is and how much I miss you and please, just forget all that and let's start over. Because you and me? We make sense."

"Still not interested." He gave Chad a wide smile. "Now if you'll excuse us." He stepped to the left only to be blocked again.

"Dude, come on." Chad dashed a hand through his hair. "This isn't how this is supposed to go down."

Ryan closed his eyes and counted to ten slowly. Then he took a deep breath and did it again. He opened his eyes and said slowly, "And how, exactly, is it suppose to go down? Am I supposed to jump up and down and babble about how grateful I am that you," he stopped and shook his head. "Look, I'm sorry, but I'm not like that."

"No, you got it all wrong," Chad pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm trying to say I'm sorry here. I want to make this right. I want there to be a you and me again."

"There is still a you and me," Ryan answered softly. "They just don't go together anymore."

Gabby let out a soft little gasp and when he looked at her he saw that she was crying. "I'm sorry," she gulped. "I shouldn't be here for this. I'll meet you at the car, okay?"

Ryan just nodded. He waited until she was out of earshot before saying, "I really liked you, Chad. I thought that maybe," he gave a shrill laugh, "well, it doesn't matter what I thought. And it doesn't matter that I liked you. I could never be with someone who doesn't respect who I am as a person and who trivializes and mocks my aspirations and goals."

Chad's face went ashen. "I was only saying that to get Troy and the rest of the guys off my back."

"It doesn't matter why you said it, only that you did."

"But I didn't mean it."

Ryan shook his head sadly. "Then that just makes this all the more pointless, doesn't it?"

"Just give me another chance." Chad reached out and traced the side of Ryan's face with his hand. "Haven't you ever done something you regretted? Haven't you ever wished you could go back and make things right?"

Ryan rested his hand on top of Chad's, savoring the contact. He swallowed, wishing that this wasn't so damn hard. "I don't trust you," he said after careful consideration. "And I can't be with someone I don't trust."

"Ryan--" Chad began, but Ryan cut him off.

"You say you want a second chance, you say you want to make things right, well then you have got to find a way to earn my trust. Plain and simple." Ryan took a deep breath and then pulled Chad's hand away from his face and dropped it.

Chad stated down at his hands, his shoulders slumped. "How the hell am I going to do that?"

Ryan laughed again, just as bitterly as before. "That's a mystery to you and me both." He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Anyway, I've got to get going. I'll," he trailed off with a lift of one hand.

"Yeah," Chad hitched his bag up higher on his shoulder. "I'd better jet too."

But he didn't move. He just stood there, looking for all the world like an overgrown puppy someone had kicked, and watched Ryan walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"I'm really busy right now," Sharpay called out when Ryan knocked on her door. "I've got a date in, like, two hours and I'm so not ready." He opened the door anyway and stepped inside. Sharpay clicked her tongue at him. "I told you I'm busy."

Ryan managed a smile. "You're dressed, you've got your jewelry on and you're nearly done with your make-up."

"Yes, but I've still got hair and accessories." Sharpay said over her shoulder. "And that could take ages."

"Well, I only need a few minutes." Ryan leaned back across the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

Sharpay studied him in the mirror as she smoothed some sort of goopy white paste into the underside of her neck. "What is it then?" she wiped her fingers on a pink towel and then screwed the cap back onto the bottle. Ryan watched as she picked up a jar of god knows what and dipped her pinky into it. She dabbed it under her left eye and then her right, her mouth pulled into a frown. Sharpay let out a frustrated noise and tossed her head. "Spit it out, Ryan, I haven't got all day."

"You are slathering more money onto your face than most teens make in a year." He walked across the room and picked up the jar she had just recapped and began to read. "Uses advanced technology to help firm, lift and restore skin's youthful appearance. Helps firm and nourish with caviar extracts and La Prairie's exclusive cellular complex. Seriously? You are putting caviar under your eyes?" he tossed the jar and caught it neatly.

"Give me that!" Sharpay snatched it from him. "That's La Prairie and it's three hundred a jar! Mother would kill me if I ordered another one before I'm due."

Ryan laughed. "Way to prove my point, Shar."

She ignored him as she settled her precious fish egg extract back into place. "Did you have a reason for coming in here? Or was it just to bother me?"

"Actually," Ryan eased his hip onto her vanity, "I need to talk to you about something Troy said."

"Troy?" her face lit up and she gave him her full attention for the first time since he entered the room. "What did he say? Was it about my new dress? No, he told me himself he thought it was," she wrinkled her nose, "nice." Sharpay frowned then shook her head. "Whatever. What was it Ry? Don't keep me in such suspense!"

"It was about you and him and a little plan involving me and Chad."

"Oh." Sharpay made a dismissive motion with her hand. "That." She shifted so that she was facing the mirror again. "I thought it was something important." She picked up a brush and uncapped a thing of light brown powder then cut her eyes towards him. "Could you move? You're ruining my light."

He slipped off and took a couple steps back. "Is that all you are going to say?"

"What do you want me to say?" she applied the face powder with neat little swishes of the brush.

"Maybe that you are sorry? I was really tore up about every that went down, as you very well know."

"Oh please." Sharpay shook a can of sparkly pink powder, popped the top and dabbed the tip of a fat brush into it then sent the brush gliding over her cheeks, leaving her looking fresh and glowing.

Ryan stared at her with morbid fascination. "You know, if you spent half the time on your character that you do on your grooming, you would be pretty much the best person ever."

Sharpay gave him a nasty look in the mirror. "You are such a drama queen."

"I'm a drama queen?" Ryan snorted. "Hey pot, this is kettle, you're black."

"I so don't have time for this right now, Ry." Sharpay waved a hand at him.

"You know what I don't have time for?" Ryan fumed, but Sharpay cut him off.

"Spare me." She picked up her brush and dragged it through her hair. "Look, I'm sorry. Alright? Does that make it better?"

Ryan took a deep breath, "Shar," he started, but she cut him off again.

"No, really. I am. I was wrong to break you and your smoopie-poo up. Clearly, it was true love. And I was such a terrible, terrible sister for making you see that he wasn't that into you. Honestly, I should be sent to Siberia or something. After all, I set it up so that you could see what he was saying about you behind your back. Which, I'll remind you, was totally talking shit. But, whatever. I broke your poor little heart into pieces and I'm sorry." Sharpay slapped the brush down and twisted in her chair. "Or not at all. Because he is a tool, Ry. And you can so do better."

"I see." Ryan touched his finger to his chin in mock thoughtfulness. "Yes, it's all clear to me now. You arranged things so that I would overhear Chad talking trash about me because you care about me and just want me to know what sort of a scum sucker he is. And not," he narrowed his eyes at her, "because of Troy Bolton, a boy who still hasn't asked you out I'll remind you."

Sharpay tilted her head to the side, considering her makeup. She ran the lip gloss applicator over her lips one last time and then smiled at her reflection. "Seems right to me," she answered cavalierly as she fluffed her hair. "Now, how do I look?"

Ryan pressed the tips of his fingers into his forehead and took a deep breath. "Sharpay, focus."

"I am." She clipped a bow into her hair and then made a face. "Too fussy." She removed it and then slipped an ice blue headband into place. "I don't know," Sharpay tapped her lips. She stood up and adjusted her tops so that it dripped off one arm, revealing more of her cleavage than Ryan ever needed to see. "It's a little Daisy Mae, but I like it. What do you think?"

"First, that you are the most selfish person on the face of the planet, and second that you couldn't pull off Daisy Mae if your life depended on it," Ryan snapped.

"Ryan!" Sharpay whirled around and glared at him. "I would make a fabulous Daisy Mae!"

She stamped her foot dramatically and heaved a sigh, no doubt ready to quote some line or other, but Ryan wasn't interested in hearing it. He held up a hand. "Don't even start."

"Oh, fine. If you want to know the truth, then I'll tell you. And you have only yourself to blame if you don't like it." Sharpay crossed her arms and made a face. "Troy kept mopping about, whining about that lump he calls his best friend. I put up with it for as long as I could, but when he started singing off key, I had to do something. Honestly, I can't see why you are complaining about it. Like I said before, he so wasn't boyfriend material."

"Except that he was," Ryan said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever." Sharpay turned back to the mirror. "You only hooked up with him because you were just bitter about me speeding all my time with Troy. I don't know what made you latch on to Chad Danforth, of all people, but I'm sure you would have snapped out of it all on your own in a week or two."

"This is not about you." Ryan shook his head in disbelief as Sharpay rolled her eyes. "You know what, forget it." He stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

"And then he said that I have to earn his trust somehow if I ever want to be with him again and just walked away like I wasn't standing there with my heart on my sleeve begging him to take me back," Chad finished. He ran a hand over his face and shook his head.

Taylor patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It sounds like you've got your work cut out for you, then."

"Yeah, well," Chad flung himself back on his bed and crossed his arms behind his head. "Where do I even start? That's what I want to know. What can I possibly do to prove to him that it was just a moment of weakness or whatever." He waited for Taylor to come up with something brilliant, and when she didn't he blathered on. "I mean, I didn't even say anything that hurtful, when you come right down to it. He said he wanted to keep things on the down low. He said he didn't want the whole school knowing what was going on. If I hadn't said what I did," Chad trailed off and stared at the ceiling like it would suddenly solve all his problems.

"It seems to me," Taylor said slowly, "like you still haven't accepted your responsibility in this whole mess."

Chad made a face. "It's not my fault that Troy and the Ice Princess where setting me up. If I had known then I would have said something, I don't know, nicer? Different anyway."

Taylor slapped his leg. "See? That right there proves that you knew you were saying something you didn't want to get back to Ryan. Even if he hadn't been there don't you think that he still might have found out? And wouldn't he have been hurt then too?"

"I admit that it was a dick thing to do. I haven't tried to say that it wasn't. But I was under a lot of stress and I didn't mean it," Chad protested.

Taylor made a disgusted noise. "You know what, you don't deserve him." She stood up and started picking up her books.

"Tay," Chad sat up, tucked his legs under him and gave her a pitiful look, "please don't leave. I really need your help with this."

"Fine." She dropped her book back on his desk with a loud thump. "First things first, you admit that you are wholly to blame for this and stop acting like a martyr." Taylor crossed her arms and glared at him.

Chad sighed. "Alright. Alright. I'm to blame. It was me and my big mouth that got me into this. Ryan didn't do anything that I wouldn't have done in his place. And even if Troy is the biggest dick in the whole world, that still doesn't give me an excuse for badmouthing my boyfriend and calling his whole dance thing stupid. I mean, it is, but I should have been sensitive or something and not told everyone how lame I think it is."

Taylor laughed. "Oh Chad, you almost had it."

"What?" Chad lifted his eyebrows. "Don't tell me that you think that musical theater is the It thing, because you don't."

"That's it!" Taylor beamed at him.

"What's it?" Chad was instantly suspicious.

"You are going to try out for that spring musical."

Chad gave her a dirty look. "That hell I am."

"Think about it," Taylor coaxed. "How else are you going to show him that you respect his life choices."

"Could you sound anymore like an after school special? Who talks like that?"

Taylor rolled her eyes at him. "Did you or did you not come to me for help?"

"I did, but--"

"No buts. I am giving you my advice. If you want those big blue eyes batting in your direction, you are going to try out for that god awful show."

"I knew it!" Chad crowed. "You hate all that singing and dancing stuff as much as I do."

Taylor gave him an amused look. "It doesn't matter what I hate. I'm not the one trying to get out of the doghouse."

"But you'll be the one auditioning along side me."

"What?" Taylor gave him a confused look. "Are you out of your mind? I have so much on my plate right now it is not even funny."

"Who else am I going to practice with? And besides, it will look good on your college applications," Chad wheedled.

"Gabby," Taylor said with a snap of her fingers.

Chad shook his head. "Hasn't talked to me since this whole thing went down."

"Don't you know any other girls?"

"None that I would want to sing and dance with," Chad said with what he hoped was a charming smile.

Taylor laughed. "You know, that would work better if I didn't know that you were head over heels for some skinny white boy."

"You never know," Chad teased, "Maybe if I had met you first I would have ended up with you."

Taylor swatted at him. "Tell that to someone who has seen you go all gooey-eyed over him."

Chad gave her a hard look. "I do not go gooey-eyed."

"Oh sure, and sun sets in the east." Taylor bounced down onto the bed besides him. "You are crazy for Ryan. Anyone with eyes can tell. And that's a good thing, because if it weren't true love I wouldn't be willing to risk my GPA by devoting time I could be using to study to prance up and down a stage with you."

Chad leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You're the best!"

Taylor pushed him away. "Save your gratitude until after you've seen me dance," she said with a smile.

Chad opened his mouth to say something witty, but was cut off by the ringing of his cell. He grimaced as the strains of The Boys Are Back in Town filled the room and reached to press ignore. Taylor rolled her eyes and snatched it up before he could.

"Hello?" she cleared her throat. "Oh, hey Troy. Yeah, he's right here." She paused. "I don't know. I'll ask him." Taylor gave Chad her 'don't be an idiot' look and then said, "Are you free to talk, Chad?"

He rolled his eyes at her and held out his hand for the phone. She gave it to him and he put it to his ear. "Hey."

"Yo, bro. Long time no talk," Troy said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah." Chad picked one of his shoelaces loose. "So, um, what did you call about?" Troy was silent for so long that Chad glanced at the screen to make sure the call hadn't dropped. "You there?" he asked.

"Yeah." Troy paused again and then said, "Look, I know you are pissed at me, but I really need to talk to you. Do you mind if I come in?"

"Come in?" Chad got up and moved to his window. He flicked the curtain aside and glanced out. "Dude. Are you seriously standing in front of my house?"

Troy ducked his head and then asked, "Can I come in?"

Chad looked over his shoulder and saw Taylor packing up her bag. "You leaving?"

She nodded. "You and Troy need to clear the air and I've got to get home and start practicing my dance moves."

"You rock," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow during free period, alright?"

"Dude," Troy cut in.

"Give me a sec," Chad answered. "I'll let you in when I walk Taylor out." He flipped his phone shut and tossed it back on his desk. "I'm serious, Tay. You rock." He crossed the room and wrapped her in a tight hug.

She squeezed him tight and then pushed back and gave him a weak smile. "Try and just listen to him," Taylor advised. "I know you're pissed at him and all, but Troy's got a good heart."

Chad snorted. "He doesn't ever think about what he's doing until it's done. Then he's all sorry about whatever clusterfuck he just caused, but it's too damn late to do any good."

"Well, I never said he wasn't as dumb as bricks." Taylor slipped the strap to her bag over her shoulder and then gave herself on last glance over in the mirror. "Just that he has a heart of gold and doesn't mean harm."

"I know," Chad agreed. He walked over to the door and pulled it open in. "And I promise I'll try and keep that in mind when he's explaining to me why he didn't mean to royal screw me over."

Taylor gave him a wry look, but didn't say anything as she walked ahead of him down the stairs. She paused at the bottom, waiting for him to catch up with her before she opened the front door. Troy was standing there with his hands in his pockets and a hangdog expression on his face. Taylor gave him a tight lipped smile and then nodded at Chad. He lifted a hand in response.

Troy waited for her to be out of earshot before saying, "Why did you never tell me about you and Ryan?"

Chad dragged a hand through his hair and sighed. "You better come in. I'm so not having this conversation on my doorstep." He gestured for Troy to precede him.

"Your room?"

"Where else?"

Troy lifted a shoulder in response and headed up the stairs. Chad followed him, trying to make sense of his mixed up emotions. He was pissed. No doubt about it. Troy had fucked up one of the best things in his life over some petty bullshit. But, on the other hand, Troy was his best friend, had been since they were sprouts not even big enough to properly hold a basketball. They had a history between them and that was hard to let just slip away, no matter how big of a douche Troy had been. Chad scowled and shook his head. This whole thing sucked massively.

"Uh." Troy stopped in the doorway and looked at Chad over his shoulder.

Chad rolled his eyes and pushed past him. "Just sit anywhere." He watched as Troy walked towards his bed and plopped down on it. "So," he lifted an eyebrow.

Troy hunched his shoulders. He glanced at Chad and then back down. "Yeah," Troy paused, then took a deep breath and said, "I was talking to Gabby and she said that you and Ryan were, you know, hooking up and that I got between you and fuck." He let out and exasperated noise. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"About me and Ryan?" Chad made a face. "I wanted to, but he wanted to keep things on the down low."

"Well, yeah, about you and Ryan too, but that's not what I meant." Troy leaned back on the bed, his weight resting on his elbows. "You're my brother from another mother, dude. So why doesn't Gabby know that you're gay and I don't?"

"First off, I'm not gay. I'm bi. Second, I didn't tell Gabby. I told Ryan. And, um, she just happened to be there when I did." Chad winced, knowing that was about as weak an excuse as possible. "But whatever, I would have told you. I wanted to. It just never came up before and, like I said, Ryan didn't want anyone knowing."

"Why?" Troy's brow furrowed. "Was he ashamed of you or something? Because if he was then he's an even bigger freak than I thought. You are pretty damn amazing and any guy would be lucky to have you."

Troy looked so indignant that Chad laughed. "Dude, calm down. It wasn't anything like that. He just knew that I wasn't out and he didn't want me to do something I would regret. He said that if things worked out between us and I was still comfortable with the whole dating thing, then we could wear matching tuxes to Prom."

"That's cute. Matching tuxes." Troy grinned and Chad balled up a piece of paper on his desk and chucked it at him.

"Like you won't be wearing something equally stupid to make some girl happy," he shot back.

"Duh. That's how it works." Troy's grin got wider. "But you would have enjoyed it. Which it totally different."

"Whatever. It doesn't really matter now does it? Ryan won't even talk to me, so I'm pretty sure we won't be doing anything together, let along coordinating our clothing."

Troy's face sort of crumpled in on itself. "Dude, I'm sorry about that. I didn't know you two were, you know. I just thought that," he stopped and shook his head. "I wasn't thinking. I was jealous that you two were hitting it off and I wanted my best friend back. So when Sharpay came up with this idea to get things to go back the way they used to be, I jumped on it. I should have known it was a jackass thing to do."

"Yeah, well," Chad shrugged. "What you going to do about it now?"

Troy's expression brighten again. "I'm going to fix things, that's what."

Chad looked at him like he had lost his mind. "Dude, whatever you're thinking, just stop right now. It won't work."

"Sure it will." Troy flopped back onto the bed and laced his fingers behind his head. "You'll see."

"No, seriously. Don't." Chad warned. "I've got this under control."

Troy propped himself back up on one arm, concerned etched on his face. "I'm the one who got you into this mess. I'm going to get you out. It's the right thing to do."

Chad sighed. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"

"You never can, bro." Troy's eyes all but twinkled and Chad felt the urge to both laugh and cry.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Ryan! Hey, Ryan!"

Ryan turned from his locker and stared in disbelief as Troy jogged up to him. "Yes?" he said coldly.

"Dude, I've been looking for you all over." Troy gave Ryan one of his goofy-yet-charming grins.

"Why?" Ryan turned back to study his reflection in the mirror in his locker and adjusted his hat so that it sat a little lower on his head.

"To tell you I'm sorry," Troy answered, as if that made any sense.

Ryan shut his locker before facing Troy. "Sorry for what, exactly?"

"For being jealous of how much Chad liked you." Troy scratched his eyebrow. "I mean, it's stupid, right? He's my best friend. I should have been happy that he found someone he was really into, not plotting with his boyfriend's sister to ruin his relationship."

"Wait, what?" Ryan put his hands together and took a calming breath. "Let me get this right. You are saying that you and Shar went all secret agent and arranged to have me overhear Chad dissing me because you were jealous?"

Troy nodded like he was a bobble-head doll. "Exactly. I wanted Chad to stop liking you because I thought that it was a threat to our relationship. Which, like I said, is stupid. Me and Chad are bros and you and him are," Troy paused as if searching for the right word.

"Fuck buddies?" Ryan supplied.

Troy blanched. "Uh, yeah, that." He looked confused and then shook his head. "No, that that, actually. If Chad and you were, um, having sex, it wasn't like that. He is way too into you for it to have been a causal thing. Believe me, I've seen him causal. There was this one time when he and--"

"That's enough," Ryan cut in, holding his hands out to ward off whatever Troy was about to over share.

"Look, the point is that I fucked up and now Chad is suffering for it and I wanted to apologize because it wasn't his fault."

Ryan gave an amused chuckle. "Oh really? Was it you who called male dancers 'prancing little fairies' then? Because I sort of recall that Chad said that. And I don't think you held a gun to his head to make him do it either."

"Yeah, he said that. But how is that any different from you calling jocks brain-dead rejects from the shallow end of the gene pool? Or the time you and your sister photoshopped the faces of the basketball team onto the bodies of gorillas? That was really jacked up and no one manipulated you into doing it. You guys came up with it all on your own."

"I wasn't dating Chad then," Ryan protested.

"So that makes it alright?" Troy snorted. "Look, all I'm saying is that everyone says does insensitive things every now and then. No one is perfect. And, in Chad's defense, he was being played by your sister. Which I know from personal experience is pretty damn hard to avoid."

"What you guys did was really messed up, I won't deny it, but if Chad really cared about me he would have just admitted that we were an item when you guys started giving him crap for hanging out with me. Instead he talked trash about me." Ryan made disgusted sound. "So excuse me if I don't feel sorry for him for being played by Shar."

Troy gave him a hard look. "Chad told me that you were the one who didn't want your relationship getting out. Are you telling me that he should have ignored your wishes and just told everyone that you two were messing around? Something tells me you would have been pissed about that too." Ryan opened his mouth to defend himself but Troy talked right over him. "It seems to me that you were ashamed of him, not the other way round. You didn't want anyone to know that you were together. You didn't want him to tell his friends and you were the one who told him that you weren't sure if you wanted to take things to the next level with him. Which tells me that you were just using him. Of course you jumped all over him for 'dissing' you. It gave you the prefect reason to dump him." Troy shook his head. "You know what, forget it. I'm not sorry. You don't deserve Chad."

Ryan felt rage well up in him and he balled his hands into fists. "Fuck that," he all but spit out. "I am not the villain here. You and Sharpay engineered this whole thing. Yeah, I'll admit that I was hesitant about Chad. But why wouldn't I be? He was straight, for all intents and purposes, up to the point where he decided to stick his tongue down my throat. So sue me if I thought he was going to bolt the second things got serious. I've had more than my fair share of guys deciding that they 'aren't gay after all' and I didn't want to be anyone else's experiment. Don't you dare start harping on me like I'm to blame for what went down. That was all you, Chad and my sister."

He slammed his fist into his locker for emphasis and instantly regretted it. Punching something hard and metal was not as good a way to relieve pent up frustration as the movies made it seem. Ryan shook out his hand and then blew on his knuckles, which was another move he picked up from the big screen. It was pretty damn inadequate as far as pain relieving went.

"You're going to need to ice that," Troy commented. "Come on, this way."

"What?" Ryan blew on his hand again, hoping that it would work better the second time.

Troy laughed. "You hit your hand, not your head, Evans. Don't go acting all confused." When Ryan continued to look at him blankly, Troy sighed. "The locker room has a ton of ice in it. Come with me and I'll make sure your hand feels better in a jiffy."

Ryan eyed him suspiciously. "Why is there ice in the locker room?"

"Because playing sports isn't all fun and games." Troy slipped his hands into his pockets and started walking down the hall. "Sometimes people get hurt." He glanced at Ryan out of the corner of his eye. "Sort of like friendships. Or any relationship, really."

"Is this where you tell me that I have to get back up on the horse or not to let little bumps and bruises keep me out of the game or something equally clichéd?" Ryan asked with a roll of the eyes.

"Don't need to," Troy replied with a grin. "You're doing a fine job of it all by yourself."

* * *

Chad looked up from icing his knee at the sound of the door opening. "Sup?" he asked as Troy walked in.

"What did you do to your knee?" Troy asked as he gestured to someone behind him.

"Tweaked it doing a jab step." Chad bent back over his leg, rubbing the Dixie cup of ice around the outside of his knee.

"How'd you do that?"

Chad shrugged and peeled off a thin layer of wax paper to expose more ice. "Dunno. Must have stepped wrong or something. Not that big a deal, but coach wanted me to ice it, so here I am. What about you? Why are you here?"

"Helping me fix my hand."

Chad's head jerked up at the sound of Ryan's voice. He glanced down at Ryan's red, swollen knuckles and then glared at Troy with narrowed eyes. "How'd your hand get hurt?"

Ryan lifted a shoulder. "Hit something I shouldn't have." He gave Troy an expectant look. "Are you going to get me some ice or am I going to be subjected another one of your statue impressions?"

Troy rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a dilhole," he said as he moved across the room to the freezer. He hunted inside it and pulled out another Dixie cup. "Catch."

"How do I use this?" Ryan asked as he caught the cup. He looked so perplexed that Chad couldn't help but laugh. Which was a total stupid thing to do, judging by the pinched expression that swept across Ryan's face. Chad ducked his head again, rubbing the cup harder against his skin in an attempt to make it melt faster.

"Just do what Chad's doing," Troy advised. "Hey, I've got to jet. But think about what I said, okay?"

Ryan made an affirmative noise and then sighed as Troy hurried out of the room. Chad sneaked a look at him out of the corner of his eyes and watched as Ryan started moving the cup back and forth over his knuckles.

"You should have just hit him," Chad commented.

Ryan sniffed. "Who said I was angry with him? I could have punched my locker for a thousand other reasons."

"But you didn't. You did it because Troy, for all he comes off as the world's biggest golden retriever, is a conniving think-for-himselfer."

"Don't hold it in," Ryan said wryly, "tell me what you really think."

"I don't know if you'd noticed or not, but Troy really isn't one of my favorite people right now." Chad picked at the paper still attached to the cup.

"Could that have anything to do with the fact that he schemed with my sister behind your back?"

Chad let out a frustrated sigh. "More like he thinks he can just make up for it with a half assed apology and a stupid aw shucks grin."

Ryan made an amused sound. "Sounds like someone else I know."

"What?" Chad looked at him in confusion.

"I said, it sounds a whole lot like what you tried to do. You know, act like a complete ass and then try and charm your way into my good graces because you didn't mean for me to get hurt."

"I didn't." Chad shook his head. "Whatever. I'm not going to rehash this with you." He stood up. "Nice seeing you and all," he said as he tossed the remnants of his cup into the trash.

"Wait." Ryan set down his cup and crossed the room, catching Chad's upper arm with his cold hand. "Look, we need to talk."

Chad glanced down at Ryan's hand and then up at Ryan's face. "You mind?"

Ryan dropped his arm and took a step back. "Seriously, we need to talk."

"Ryan, I--" Chad dashed a hand through his hair, not how to finish the sentence without sounding like a tool.

"Just listen, then." Ryan moved between Chad and the door and then leaned back against it with crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have to say anything. Just listen to me talk and when I'm done we can go our separate ways."

"Don't," Chad told him. "Things are over between us. I get it. I'm not saying that I'm all sunshine and flowers or anything like that, but I get it. And I'm sure you're feeling all guilty because Troy probably pinned you to a wall or something and talked to you till you thought it was your fault that he made bad choices. Trust me, he had the same talk with me, so I know how you feel right now. All churned up and wishing you knew a way to get hold of a souped up DeLorean. But you can't. So just let it go."

Ryan shook his head. "That's not what we need to talk about."

"Oh." Chad felt like he had the world fool branded on his forehead. "Yeah? Well, then, just forget I said that."

"Forget that you wanted to go all Back to the Future over our break up?" Ryan gave him a smug look. "Not going to happen."

Chad scowled. "How about we go back to the part were you do the talking and I just listen?"

"Right." Ryan's eyes danced with suppressed mirth. "I wanted to talk to you about the spring musical. I know why you and Taylor auditioned and it didn't work. So just do us all a favor and stop now. Shar seriously went through the roof. She was already pissed about Gabby and me and finding out that there is another pair competing for the role will seriously break something in her. It won't be pretty. So please do the entire world a favor and not show up for call backs."

"You have got to be kidding me."

Ryan shook his head. "No joke."

"Seriously?" Chad gave him a disbelieving look. "Your sister successfully ruins your relationship and you are worried about her getting into a tizzy over having a little honest competition?"

"Chad, you are many things, but Sharpay's competition you are not."

"Then there shouldn't be any problems when Taylor and I do our version of Bop to the Top." Chad scratched the side of his cheek. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Why are you doing this?" Ryan asked in exasperation. "You don't even like musicals."

"I don't," Chad admitted. "But Tay does."

Ryan straightened up, his body radiating tension. "And it matters what Taylor McKessie likes?"

"Yeah, as it just so happens, it does." Chad narrowed his eyes. "Why? What's it matter to you?"

"I just thought," Ryan trailed off and sighed. "Clearly, I was wrong." He stepped away from the door.

Chad pushed past him and left without saying any of the thoughts that were beating themselves to death against his skull.

* * *

Chapter Notes: Dane Cook came up with "think-for-yourselfer" and Back to the Future is an awesome movie that everyone should watch.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"You said what?"

Chad winced at the pitch Taylor's voice hit, instantly regretting telling her anything about his conversation with Ryan. "I didn't say anything," he hedged, "I only implied."

"Oh, you only implied. Well that just changes everything," Taylor snapped. She put her hands on her head and let out an angry sigh. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Dance?" Chad suggested hopefully.

Taylor looked up at him, disbelief stamped across her features. "Here I am, risking my future as the first female president of color in an attempt to get you back together with a boy who I'm not sure deserves you and you go and imply to that same boy that we are hooking up. Have I missed anything?"

"Um." Chad bit his lower lip. "No, you pretty much covered it all."

Taylor threw up her hands. "You just want to be miserable, don't you?"

"Look, this isn't that big of a deal. So let's just turn on the music and forget that I said anything." Chad crossed over to the boom box and bent down to push the power button.

"Don't play coy with me," Taylor snapped.

Chad turned up the volume. "What?" he called over the syncopated beat.

"Chad!" Taylor put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"I can't hear you."

Taylor stomped over and shut off the music. "I'm being serious here, you know."

"You shouldn't be. Not when we are about to be singing about bopping to the top." Chad made a face. "Kelsi seems all right when you look at her. A little off, yeah, but basically normal. But the stuff she writes," he shook his head.

"Composes."

"What?"

Taylor sighed. "Kelsi composes. And, yes, she's a bit weak. But it's still light years ahead of anything you or I could do."

"Dude. I'm singing 'I'm going to 'bop, bop, bop to the top.' That's not exactly Shakespeare."

"Well look at you, referencing Shakespeare like you've actually read him," Taylor snarked.

Chad scowled at her. "I've read Shakespeare. I'm not a complete idiot, you know."

"Could have fooled me." Taylor shot him a look that should have peeled his skin off. "What with you making a mire of your life."

"I haven't made a mire of my life, whatever that means."

"Oh really?" Taylor narrowed her eyes. "Tell me what, exactly, you have done then? Because last I looked you weren't talking to your best friend, your boyfriend dumped you, and your brilliant plan to get him back involves dancing the salsa with the girl he thinks you're dating."

Chad blinked. "Damn. When you put it like that."

Taylor plopped down onto the floor and crossed her legs. "Like I said, a mire. So how do we fix it?"

"I dunno." Chad slid down the wall and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees. "Give up?"

"Bite your tongue." Taylor tapped her chin. "Well, I can tell you what we won't do. We won't let Ryan go on thinking what he's thinking."

"Tay," Chad began but she cut him off with an upheld hand.

"We are doing this my way," she said, "because your way just makes things ten times worse than they already were."

Chad let out a long sigh. "I hate it when you are right."

Taylor didn't bother to answer. Instead, she pulled out her phone and dialed. Chad watched as she fluffed her hair in the mirror while waiting for whoever she had called to answer.

"Hey, Gabby, it's me, Taylor." She paused and then said, "Yeah, I know. And, believe me, I already tore him a new one over it." Another pause. "Of course it's not true! Girl, I thought you knew me." Taylor laughed. "Well, be that as it may, I'm not that sort of a person. Anyway, I wanted to ask you to do me a favor. I know how tight you are with Ryan and I can't exactly call him and explain, not with all that other drama going down, so could you do it for me?" She studied her reflection in the mirror while she waited for an answer. "Exactly. Chad is losing his mind without him and I know Ryan's just as bad."

"I am not losing my mind," Chad interjected.

"I know, I know, but we can at least try," Taylor said, completely ignoring Chad's comment. She smiled widely in response to whatever Gabby had said. "So that's all set then. Great. I knew I could count on you." One more long pause and then, "I love you too, sweetie. And I'll see you tomorrow. At four, right?" A head nod. "Great. Talk to you later. Okay. Bye."

Taylor snapped the phone shut and then turned towards Chad. "You owe me big, buster." She walked over to her bag and put the phone back inside of it. Then she marched over to the boom box and turned it back on.

"Aren't you going to tell me what's going on?" Chad shouted to be heard over the music.

"And risk you messing it up? No way." Taylor moved to the middle of the floor and then settled into her opening stance.

Chad sighed again, but walked over to her and waited for the start of their song.

* * *

Ryan looked up from his desk when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he said, thinking it was his mother. Instead, Gabby walked into the room.

"Hey ya," she greeted him. She walked over to the couch and settled herself on it. "Hope you don't mind. I knew you would be home and I thought I would just drop by."

"I didn't hear the bell." Ryan pushed back his chair and moved over to the couch.

"Your mother was leaving as I was coming up the walk. She held the door open for me and we had a short talk. She's pretty cool, you know."

"Yeah." Ryan beamed. "My mom's the best. So what did you talk about?"

Gabby gave him a weak smile. "She's worried about you."

"What?"

"She said that you haven't been yourself since 'that nice Danforth boy' stopped coming around."

Ryan blinked. "Did you just do air quotes?" he asked.

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"

"No. I guess not."

Gabby patted the cushion next to her. "I promised her I would talk to you about it. Which is sort of odd, since I promised Taylor I would do the same thing."

"Taylor?" Ryan felt as if his stomach had been coated with ice. "Why would she want you to talk to me about anything?"

Gabby gave him a stern look. "Because she thinks that you think that she's hooking up with Chad and she doesn't want your friendship to suffer because of a misconception on your part."

"A misconception on my part? Chad all but said that they were an item." Ryan crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Not that I would have a problem with that."

"Oh really?" Gabby crossed her arms over her chest too. "Then why have your been dodging Taylor's calls?"

Ryan winced. "I haven't been in the mood to talk, is all."

"Tell that to someone who didn't spend an hour and a half with you on the phone last night."

"Okay, fine, so maybe I'm a little upset at the fact that someone who claims to be my friend ran right out and snagged my ex for herself." Ryan knew he sounded bitter, but he didn't care. His feelings were perfectly justified.

"Except that she didn't." Gabby leaned forward and put her hand on Ryan's arm. "I swear, she didn't."

"Then why did Chad say that they were?"

Gabby made a face. "Well, from what you told me, he didn't actually say anything other than that Taylor liked musicals and that he wanted to help her be in one, which is total crap. The only thing Tay has a burning desire to get into is an Ivy League school. Now, it could be possible that someone convinced her that adding a musical element to her portfolio would increase her chances of getting accepted by Cornell or something, but I'm guessing she's probably just doing Chad a favor."

"And that favor would be what? Making me jealous?"

"Oh, yes, that must be it." Gabby rolled her eyes. "Chad is obviously still interested in you. I would bet that this whole musical thing is just a chance for Chad to spend more time with you in hopes that something will happen to make you forget what a colossal moron he was."

"Not very likely," Ryan said with a sick sense of satisfaction.

"I never said it was a good plan." Gabby leaned back on the couch. "Chad did come up with it, after all."

Ryan frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that Chad never thinks things through. It's his biggest failing." Gabby shrugged. "He really should have been taught to look before he leaps."

"He is sort of spur of the moment," Ryan acknowledged reluctantly.

"Sort of?" Gabby snorted. "Make that completely. Chad's a total loose canon."

Ryan lifted his eyebrows. "Don't you think you are going a little too far there?"

"Not at all." Gabby shook her head. "Just look at his relationship with you. He decided to up and become best buds with you because Troy was spending all his time with Sharpay. Then he hooked up with you because you're hot and he's bi or something. He kept your relationship a secret because you asked him too, but, when push came to shove, he made fun of you instead of telling everyone that you where his boyfriend. He didn't understand why you got upset about him being a tool. And, instead of, I don't know, telling you that he was a fool and throwing himself on your mercy, he hatched some lame brain scheme to get back together with you. In the middle of which, he sort of implied that he and Taylor were an item. All of which leads me to conclude that Chad doesn't put much thought into his actions. He just does them and hopes for the best."

"He's not a bad guy."

Gabby gave him a look. "I never said that he was. Only that he had a flaw in his character. And who doesn't? My flaw is that I am too forgiving and always give people a second, third and even a forth chance. Taylor's is that she's too giving. Sharpay puts herself before everyone else and you are overly suspicious."

"I am not overly suspicious." Ryan glared at her.

"Yes you are. It's nothing to get worked up over, though. I'd been just as suspicious of people's motives if Sharpay were my sister."

"I am not."

"You never give anyone the benefit of the doubt. You always look for hidden motives. Remember when I first brought you a batch of my mom's brownies? You instantly asked me what I wanted and refused to eat one until I promised you that they didn't come with a catch."

Ryan flushed. "You brought me brownies for no reason."

"Yes, exactly."

"Nobody ever just brings me things. There is always a reason. Usually something to do with my sister."

Gabby smiled as if she had proved her point. "But I did. Because you are my friend and I wanted to share."

"Well, you're the only one."

The smile left Gabby's face. "No, I'm not."

"Name someone else then," Ryan challenged.

"Chad."

Ryan glared at her. "Whose side are you on here, anyway?"

"It's not about sides, because I am clearly on yours. Like I said, he was a total jerk and I think you did the right thing by leaving him. But he didn't expect anything from you. I mean, he wasn't dating you because you had a lot of money or great connections. He was dating you because he honestly liked who you are as a person."

"Not enough to tell his friends about us," Ryan pointed out.

"Which is why I said you did the right thing. No one should be with someone who is too embarrassed to make their relationship public. Which is why I personally don't think that the two of you should get back together. You deserve better and so does Chad."

"Wait, what?"

Gabby sighed. "You might hate me for saying this, but you didn't want anyone to know about the two of you and that makes you just as much of a jerk as Chad was."

"That's harsh," Ryan said softly.

"But true." Gabby patted the seat next to her again. "Sit down, sweetie."

Ryan complied. "So what you are saying is that, while I wasn't bad mouthing Chad to all my friends, I still wasn't being all that I could be in the relationship because I wasn't willing to let everyone know that we were together."

"Pretty much."

"Way to pull the punches." Ryan rested his head on her shoulder.

Gabby slipped her arm over his shoulder. "I'm just calling it the way I see it."

"But you don't think I should get back with him?"

"No." Gabby shook her head. "Chad's a great guy and all, but I don't think it have would work out even if Troy hadn't tricked him into trashing you."

Ryan pulled back and frowned. "Why do you think that?"

"You were too different. I mean, think about it. He is a jock. You're into theater. He's all about going out and having fun and doing whatever pops into his mind. You're--"

"If you say boring I will never talk to you again," Ryan cut in.

Gabby gave him an exasperated look. "I was going to say that you are more of a homebody. You like to kick back and watch movies, real low key things. And you aren't very spur of the moment."

"Gee, thanks," Ryan said sarcastically.

"What? That's the same way I am."

"You just make me sound so, I don't know, dull." Ryan picked at the piping on the arm of the couch. "It's like Chad is this fabulous, bright ball of energy and I'm this mopey black cloud that rains on everyone's parade."

"I so did not say that."

"You might as well have." Ryan sucked on his bottom lip.

Gabby shifted so that she was facing him. "All I am saying is that you two are completely opposite. Eventually one or the other would have gotten bored and ended things."

Ryan huffed. "Well I think that you are wrong."

"Whatever. It's not like it matters. You and Chad are over and that's that."

"Yeah," Ryan said softly, "that's that."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Chad stood in the middle of the stage and waited for the music to start. He wasn't nervous, not really caring if he got the part did that, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to be performing either. In fact, he was really starting to regret it. The whole point of auditioning was to get Ryan to like him again, but that hadn't happened. Things between them were actually worse than they had been, to the point where Ryan had stop acknowledging Chad's presence. Which really, really sucked. He sighed and glanced over at Taylor, who gave him a reassuring smile. Chad reached out and clasped hold of her hand just as the lights dimmed and the opening notes of the song blared through the theater speakers.

His adrenaline started pumping the same way it did at the start of a game and a big smile slid onto his face as Taylor flipped the edge of her bright red dress up and shook it. He tipped his hat lower on his head and then belted out the words, no longer caring that they were meaningless fluff. Taylor danced towards him, her voice ringing out clear and true and he moved in time with her, his deeper voice joining with her's seamlessly.

They sambaed, twisted and twirled, hands clapping in time to the beat. They broke apart and shimmied. Then Taylor did this stomp kick spin that ended up with her in his arms. He pulled her close, their bodies touching from shoulders to hips, as they tangoed across the stage, their eyes locked and their hands skimmed a circle together through the air. The lights went up on the back of the stage, revealing the gaudy ladder they had to climb and Chad improvised a few moves as he cha-chaed his way back to it.

The crowd went wild and Chad felt a rush. It was as if he had just broken through the opposition's defense and landed a slam dunk. He caught Taylor's hand as she topped the ladder, and dropped an impromptu kiss on it before finishing the song out to thunderous applause. His body was humming as the lights went down and he could barely contain himself as they exited stage left.

"That was freaking amazing," he said in Taylor's ear.

She fanned herself. "It certainly was a rush."

"Ohmigod!" Gabby sped toward them and engulfed Taylor in a hug. "That was so good! You guys were seriously off the hook."

Taylor laughed. "Thanks hon."

"Excuse me," Sharpay's voice was like ice, "but you're totally blocking the stage."

Troy gave them apologetic looks. "You did great, Chad, Taylor."

"Or not." Sharpay touched the back of her head, checking her hair. "Now if you will just move out of the way, Troy and I will show you how it's done."

Chad, Gabby and Taylor exchanged an amused glance. "Come on, I've got a great spot back here. You can see everything." Gabby caught hold of their hands and started tugging them further into the wings as the music for Sharpay and Troy started up.

Chad followed her willingly until he realized that the dark patch ahead was Ryan. He stopped abruptly, dropping her hand. "Maybe I'll find somewhere else to wait," he muttered.

"Don't be silly," Gabby chided. "You and Ryan can sit next to each other without the world coming to an end."

"Don't be so sure of that," Taylor said with a dark look at Ryan.

Ryan lifted his shoulders. "I'm cool if he is."

Chad scowled. He would rather cut off his hand than willingly sit next to Ryan after everything that had gone down between them, but he couldn't leave now without looking petty and childish. "Fine with me," he lied.

He settled onto a black box and watched Sharpay strut across the stage, blue feathers fluttering as she kicked and spun. She advanced on Troy, shimming for all she was worth and Chad furrowed his brow.

"This is your choreography, isn't it?" he asked Ryan in a low voice.

Ryan nodded. "You would not believe how pissed I was when she told me that not only was I out, but that she was still going to be using my routine. Thank all that is holy that Darbus let Gabby and I sing Breaking Free instead."

Chad rubbed his cheek. "Don't you think that dance," he jerked his chin in the direction of the stage, "is a little sexualized?"

"It fit the tone of the song," Ryan replied with a shrug.

"But you were going to dance it with your sister."

"So?"

"So, it's kind of creepy," Taylor cut in.

"Totally," Gabby agreed. "I think you should be glad you didn't perform it with her."

Ryan smiled at her. "I am. You are such a better partner than she ever was."

"And you're nice too." Taylor grinned and slung her arm around Gabby's shoulders. "Honestly, if you get it I will be just as happy as if I do."

Ryan glanced at Chad. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I still want the part."

"This is me not being surprised." Chad grinned. "I loved performing, I'm not going to lie, but being in the production would take a way a ton of the time I typically devote to basketball." He cupped the back of his neck with one hand. "So I'll go in with Taylor and say that I don't care who the male and female lead end up being, so long as neither of them are Sharpay."

"I don't know," Ryan looked thoughtful, "I think it would be something to see her cast as the leading man."

Gabby giggled and Taylor rolled her eyes as the music came to a close. There was a smattering of applause and then Sharpay and Troy joined them backstage. Troy made as if to join them, but Sharpay stopped him with a shake of her head. He leaned towards her, a frown on his face. Chad smirked, happy in the knowledge that, as awkward as all this was for him, Troy had it ten times worse.

Taylor leaned close and whispered, "Gloating looks good on you and I'm not the only one who noticed."

Chad frowned at her, then followed her glance to Ryan, who flushed and jerked his attention back to the stage. He grinned. "You know, I had my doubts, but maybe this dancing thing was a good idea after all," he teased.

She slapped his arm playfully.

* * *

Ryan waited until Ms. Darbus was in the middle of her speech about the high caliber of performers and the difficult task in front of her before sideling over to Chad and tapping him on the shoulder. Chad lifted an eyebrow and Ryan cleared his throat awkwardly.

"We need to talk," he said in an undertone.

Chad glanced towards the stage and the then back at Ryan. "Won't we miss something?"

Ryan shook his head. "She'll talk for another ten minutes then go hole up in her office until she's decided that we've suffered enough. Same routine she does every audition."

"But," Chad's brow furrowed, "aren't you and your sister the only ones competing for the couples spot?"

Ryan nodded. "She still makes us wait. Says it builds character. Anyway, I can guarantee that she won't make an announcement for at least a half an hour. So," he tilted his head towards the rear entrance to the theater. "What do you say?"

Chad motioned for him to the lead the way. "Just make it quick. I don't want to miss anything."

It was easier than Ryan had thought it would be to slip out of the theater without Sharpay noticing. He attributed it to the fact that Troy was staring dreamily at Gabby, thereby forcing Shar to fly into overdrive trying to get him to pay attention to her instead. Ryan smirked to himself, happy that his sister's plans were no where near close to coming to fruition.

"You wanted to talk?" Chad asked, breaking Ryan out of his thoughts.

Ryan rubbed the side of his mouth. "I don't know how to say this nicely, so I'm just going to say it and we can process it after the fact."

Chad chuckled. "Okay, shoot."

"Um," Ryan took a deep breath. "I've been doing a lot of thinking and I think that you and me, well, we deserve a second chance. I'm not saying that you were right to say what you did or that I over reacted or anything like that, just that we shouldn't let other people end what we had going just because they didn't like it."

"That's," Chad paused, his face a mask of confusion, "good?"

"Well, I had sort of hoped that you would think so," Ryan huffed. He took another breath and shook his head. "Look, I just think that we had potential. Why should we let all that go down the drain because Sharpay was jealous and Troy had his head up his ass?"

Chad laughed out right and shook his head. "When you put it like that, how can I say no?" he asked with a grin.

Ryan let out a relieved sigh. "So you're cool with us hooking back up and giving it one more try?"

Chad nodded. "Dude, I've been trying to get you to go back out with me since before you officially ended things between us."

"Yes, well," Ryan pretended to brush lint off of his shoulders. "Who wouldn't?"

Chad stepped towards him, wrapping his arm around Ryan's waist. "You know, those skin tight black pants make your ass look incredibly hot."

Ryan gave him a smug look. "Of course they do."

Chad rolled his eyes as he angled his head towards Ryan's. Ryan caught his lower lip in his teeth as he waited for Chad to close the distance between them, eager for Chad's kiss. Instead he heard loud throat clearing followed by an equally loud fake cough. Chad jerked back, turning towards the sound. Ryan glared over his shoulder at Gabby, who had an apologetic look on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said shamefaced, but Ms. Darbus called for all of us to come back on stage."

"What?" Ryan pulled away from Chad. "She never wraps things up this fast."

Gabby lifted her shoulder. "Sorry. I know that you two were," she trailed off.

"Agreeing to give it another go?" Chad finished with a grin.

"Ohmigod!" Gabby clapped her hands, a grin spreading across her face. "That is awesome!" she rushed towards them and somehow managed to wrap her tiny little arms around them for a tight, three-way hug.

"I'm glad you approve," Ryan said dryly.

"Duh," Gabby leaned back to smile up at him. "Of course I approve! You and Chad are like the hottest thing ever." She flushed. "Um, that is, what I meant was--"

Chad cut her off with a laugh. "Dude, we are the hottest thing ever."

"I don't know what's going on out here," Taylor said as she exited the building, "but Darbus is building up a head of steam in there. So I suggest we wrap this up right quick."

Gabby extricated herself and dashed over to Taylor. She caught the other girl's hands in hers and squealed, "They're back together!"

Taylor flashed them a grin. "Really?"

Ryan nodded as he caught hold of Chad's hand and started walking towards them. "Yes, we are. Although, I must say, if I knew what sort of a reaction this was going to get I would have waited till after the auditions. Finding out who gets the part seems sort of anticlimactic now."

Chad gave him an amused look. "Are you saying that fixing things with me comes in over some part in a stupid high school musical? Be still my heart."

"Whatever," Ryan said in a perfect imitation of Sharpay.

Gabby giggled as she held the door open for them. "We seriously have to celebrate after this is done," she said as they hurried on stage.

"It's nice of you to finally join us," Sharpay said with a sniff, her eyes narrowed at Chad and his joined hands.

Troy noticed too and a smile bloomed on his face. "So things are all worked out between you two?" he asked eagerly.

"Totally," Chad answered with a grin.

"Awesome!" he held out his hand and Chad slapped it.

"Yes, well, as heartwarming as all that is," Sharpay cut in, "I think Ms. Darbus has something important to say."

Ms. Darbus smiled up at them from the audience. "Thank you, Sharpay. And let me just start by saying how very pleased I am at the turn out we've had for our Spring Musicale.' She fluttered her hands to encompass the stage. "With such an unusually large showing, I decided to do things a little differently. After evaluating all of your wonderful and charming performances, I was hard pressed to chose between you. But chose I did, and the lucky pair to gave the coveted spots of Arthur and Minnie is Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez."

"What!" Sharpay shrieked. "They didn't even audition together!"

Ms. Darbus inclined her head. "You are correct. They didn't. But, as I said, I did things a tad bit differently this time. I put the two strongest singers together and formed the perfect pairing. I'm sure that Miss Montez and Mr. Bolton will do us all proud when they perform in our Spring Musicale.

Sharpay started ranting about right and wrong and how she was the best singer by far. Ryan made a face and leaned over towards Gabby. "Congratulations Wildcat. The best girl most certainly won." He shot a glance towards Taylor, "No offense, hon."

"None taken," she replied with a smile. "I was only in this for Chad, and he got what he wanted."

Chad grinned and squeezed Ryan's hand. "He sure did."

Gabby winced as Sharpay hit a particularly high note. "How about we all go out and celebrate?" she gave Sharpay's back an evil look. "Somewhere quite."

"With good food," Chad added.

"Betty's," Troy put in with a smile. His face crumpled. "Uh, if there are no bad memories," he added. "And if I'm invited."

Ryan looked down at his and Chad's clasped hands and then up at Troy's expectant look. "Of course you are," he said. He gave Sharpay one last look, smiling to himself as she stomped her foot and raged. "After all, we are all in this together. We might as well all be friends."


End file.
